The Washing of the Mice
by Talos Angel
Summary: Linda Underling and Warechu must kidnap Rom and Ram for CFW Trick or it's the end for them. However, a series of misadventures and shenanigans lead Linda to develop a strange friendship with the two CPU candidates. She is ultimately torn between her loyalty to her new friends, and her fear of what the CFWs might do to her. BRUTAL CONTENT WARNING!
1. Chapter 1: Worst Present Ever

A.N: Wow! Has it really been three years since I have uploaded anything to ? I've REALLY been neglecting this account! To be fair, I've been uploading things to Deviantart in that time, as well as my real life responsibilities. Anyway, a warning...

 **WARNING:** **This story deals with some serious things, like incest, drugs, kidnapping, child abuse, rape, suicide, and even cannibalism.** If you don't want to read a story with such things in them, then please click the "back" button on your browser and go read something that doesn't have them in there. **Do keep in mind, this story does not condone or support any of these things, and I oppose harming innocent children in any way.** I wanted to write a story that starts with a bad person who reconsiders their ways later. Thank you for understanding.

A.N.2: This HDN fic takes place in a different dimension, one that is similar to the mk2/re:birth2 dimension, but with a bunch of differences. For example, Arfoire is not the actual Deity of Sin, but is rather, the CPU Goddess of ASIC, just the way Neptune is the CPU Goddess of Planeptune. Also, there are trains and highways because that would make travel between the cities faster and (mostly) safer. that being said, I still want to portray people in character. That ALSO being said, I also want to put in some major character development.

A.N.3: Just alleviating an anticipated fear here: **There will be no romantic or sexual relationship between Linda and Rom/Ram, nor will there be Warechu x Rom/Ram romance/sex. I do not think that child-adult romance/sex is a good thing, even if it is "consensual."** (I could be wrong, but I am assuming Warechu is an adult. It's kinda hard to tell with small, mascot furries.) I will NOT tell you what pairings happen, as I never do, because that would spoil the story (more than it's been spoiled already, lol.)

Also, woo! Cover!

THE WASHING OF THE MICE

CHAPTER ONE: WORST PRESENT EVER!

-"Yeah! That was fun!" Ram shouted as she burst through the Lowee Basilicom doors, "We should go again tomorrow!"

"Honestly, I think that's enough excitement for a good, long while," Blanc sighed as she slumped through the doors shortly afterwards, "I'm tired."

"You're always tired, Blanc," Rom said softly as she followed behind, "If...if you played with us more, you'd be less tired."

"Yeah!" Rom exclaimed as she skipped around the Basilicom's reception area, "You should do this with us more often."

The three girls moved through the Basilicom reception area. It was a fairly empty, grayish area with a few rows of fancy wooden benches, with a big, red carpet leading over to two curving sets of stairs that led up to a door at the back of the Basilicom. A few stained glass windows, depicting abstract shapes in a wide rainbow of colors. Normally, this place would be filled with people offering their best wishes and prayers to the CPU goddesses of Lowee, or perhaps to discuss business with them. Today, however, Mina had the Basilicom closed early, so it was eerily empty and soundless. The door in the back of the Basilicom opened, as a familiar white-haired, red coat-wearing figure came out, and smiled at the sisters.

"Welcome home, girls!" Mina chirped as she clasped her hands together, "Did you enjoy the festival?"

"Yeah!" Ram shouted, "I won a stuffed dragon for Rom, and I got to beat Blanc at the shooting game and..."

"It was fun." Rom said in her soft, little voice, "Especially because Blanc was with us."

"Yeah," Blanc sighed, trying to smile as best as she could, "I just wanna...go to bed now." Both of the twins frowned at this.

"Aww!" Rom and Ram groaned in unison.

"I wanted to play some more once we got home!" Ram squeaked angrily.

"Blanc never plays with us otherwise." Rom sniveled. Mina shook her head as she looked down at the two energetic goddesses.

"Now girls," Mina said in a stern voice, "Tomorrow is a very important day for you all...as well as the rest of Gamindustri. This will mark the first time the Lowee Winter Festival is celebrated outside of Lowee, and all of the other nations have adopted our tradition. You two and Blanc need to be at your best for the speech tomorrow." Rom and Ram moaned with exasperation as they slumped their arms.

"Aww! That's boooooring!" Ram whined.

"I'd rather play with Blanc." Rom stated quietly.

"It's just for a few hours," Mina said, "afterwards, you can play in the festival with Blanc again. You can even open your presents with her."

"Promise?" Both of the twins asked, their eyes wet and large like a puppy's. Mina smiled as she knelt down to eye level with the twins.

"Yes. I promise," Mina whispered as she patted them both on their heads, "Now go get ready for bed." Mina shoved them all through the door into the Basilicom's living quarters. Blanc pushed open the plain, brown door to her room, but Mina grabbed her on the shoulder and clicked her tongue.

"Blanc!" Mina snapped, "Go brush your teeth with your sisters! It would be embarrassing if you got a toothache in front of people from everywhere in Gamindustri."

"Okay, mom." Blanc grumbled, her eyes half closed as she fumbled her way into the bathroom. It was an extremely pristine porcelain paradise, spacious enough to be a public restroom, but beautiful and clean enough to use as a bedroom. The pink, fuzzy carpet had not even a single stain upon it. There were three sinks next to the door, all housed within the same white marble counter. Heck, even the toilets themselves were in baby blue stalls, truly allowing multiple people to use it at once. There was only one bath, however; it was a big, porcelain tub built into the floor, with little pumps and drains for water, and even a bubbler (it was more like a hot tub, in all honesty.)

Rom and Ram were already brushing their teeth, scrubbing furiously as a blue foam built up in their mouths. Blanc lurched over to the one open sink and jabbed herself in her right cheek with her toothbrush. Ram and Rom giggled as they finished up.

"Blanc is so sleepy she keeps messing up." Ram chuckled

"Maybe she needs our help?" Rom suggested between giggles. The twins shoved their toothbrushes into Blanc's mouth, Ram scrubbing the top jaw, and Rom scrubbing the bottom. Blanc gave a few weak protesting moans as her sisters probed her mouth. She gently swatted at their arms before Mina yanked the twins away.

"Now girls," Mina snapped sternly, "don't share your toothbrushes. That's how you get germs."

"Sorry." The twins whimpered as they looked down. Mina looked at the dazed, weary Blanc, and picked up her toothbrush. She shoved Blanc's toothbrush into her mouth, and began to scrub as if she were trying to remove mildew, causing Blanc to emit a few more irritated groans.

"If Blanc needs any help brushing her teeth, leave it to me." Mina told the twins, "I've been taking care of her since before you girls were born." Rom and Ram giggled as they slipped out of the bathroom, to head off to their own rooms. Mina patted Blanc on the back of her head, making her spit the contents of her mouth into the sink. She put Blanc's left arm over her shoulder, and carried her off to Blanc's room. It was a small, quiet room filled with bookshelves. Even though all of the bookcases were packed full of literature, there were piles of books strewn about the grayish room that Mina had to gingerly step around as she carried the sleepy goddess to her white, cotton bed.

"I'd tell you to change into your PJs," Mina whispered, "But you're clearly going to fall asleep before you do that. Just wash the sheets extra good." Mina tucked Blanc under the thick, wool covers, and kissed her on the forehead.

"Good night Blanc." Mina cooed as she left the room. Blanc was already sound asleep.

Rom and Ram's room was a bit different; it was far more colorful. It was as if somebody had thrown cotton candy all over the place; baby blue and light pink were the dominating colors of the room, with a bit of occasional white. Rom and Ram's beds were on opposite sides of the room; Rom had a blue bed next to a big, round window that overlooked the snowy city of Lowee. Ram slept in a pink bed next to the wall, which had hung several of her and Rom's favorite drawings. The rest of the room was filled with toys; a doll house here, a pile of crayons and paper, and everything else everywhere. Essentially, it was the toy and art equivalent of Blanc's "room problems." Ram and Rom were already wearing their color-coordinated light pink and baby blue Pajamas, which had large, loose fitting shirts going over their bodies like a dress, but included loose fitting pants of the same color. They were in their beds, and they smiled at Mina. Mina kissed each of them on the cheek, and gave them a pat on their heads.

"Goodnight Rom. Goodnight, Ram." Mina whispered to the girls, "Get plenty of sleep, now." Mina closed the door as she left. The room stayed silent for a few minutes before Ram looked over to Rom, and saw her shivering.

"Are you cold, Rom?" Ram asked, leaning towards her.

"Y...Y...Yeah," Rom replied quietly, "It's c...C...Colder than u...Usual." Ram smiled as she left her bed, and tucked herself in with Rom.

"Don't worry, sis," Ram whispered happily, "I'll just use my body heat to warm you up." Ram snuggled against Rom, and threw her arms around her shivering twin. Rom smiled as she hugged Ram back.

"Thank you, Ram." Rom cooed quietly, "I feel warmer already."

"What do you think our presents are going to be?" Ram asked, her voice quiet yet excited, "I hope I get 3D glasses! I really want them!"

"I...I just want Blanc to open them with us," Rom whispered as she closed her eyes, "I don't care what we actually get."

"Yeah..." Ram sighed as she closed her eyes, "I wanna open them with Blanc, too." The twins drifted off to a deep, gentle sleep in each others' arms.

...

...

Outside, the city was colder than a nuclear winter; the roof of the Basilicom had to have been covered in a foot of snow. Even though street plows kept the brick roads of the city relatively clear of snow, piles of it were quickly building up anyway. All of the buildings were inspired by a foreign culture; most of them were cylindrical towers that had large, colorful onion-shaped objects topping them off. Smaller buildings were modeled to resemble massive pumpkins and other gourds, sometimes looking like small farms. Festive, rainbow colored lights were strung about everywhere, since this WAS the Lowee Winter Festival. There were even several temporary shop-stands in the streets that were just closing up. The city, despite the festivity, seemed so quiet and peaceful.

Seemed.

Two figures, one clearly larger than the other, crawled on top of the Basilicom. They both had large mouse ears, but the taller figures' were just a part of her black hoodie. These figures, Linda the Underling and Warechu, lurched across the roof, shivering a bit.

"Aw geez," Linda sneered, "It's so goddamn cold! I even had to zip my jacket up."

"Quit whining, chu!" Warechu whispered harshly, "At least you *have* clothes."

"I don't have fur." Linda snapped back as she walked to the edge of the building.

"Thank Arfoire." Warechu grumbled, rolling his eyes as he followed. The two stopped at the edge, overlooking the now empty, but still bright, streets of Lowee. Linda looked over the edge down to the ground. She swallowed air as she thought about why she was in Lowee.

"I want those cuties!" CFW Trick had screamed at her a few days ago, "And I want them alive! I would go with you to...savor the moment, but that damn dumb bastard CFW Judge requires my assistance for the next few days. Don't screw this up, Underling; if you fail, that's it. You're a dead woman." Linda felt a soft tap on her shoulder, bringing her back to the present.

"Hey! Don't go to daydream town now!" Warechu snapped as he poked Linda's shoulder, "We've got a job to do." Linda nodded as she pointed down the side of the building.

"I think I see the window here," Linda said, "Let's do this quickly. Someone might still be wandering the streets." Linda unzipped her hoodie, pulling a rope with a hook and a crowbar out. She shivered extra hard.

"Also, I'd rather not die from hypothermia, so let's do this quickly." Linda grumbled as she set the rope-hook on the side of the building. She let the rope unfurl downwards, causing it to dangle in front of the window to the twins' room. Warechu glanced at the rope, then back at Linda.

"Ladies first." Warechu said quietly with a smile. Linda grunted as she grabbed the crowbar and started to slide down the rope. She stopped when she got right in front of the window, and smiled. Warechu peeked downwards at her, holding onto the rope.

"Sweet," Linda muttered to herself, "They're both in the same bed. This'll make things easier." Linda placed the hook of the crowbar gently in the crack between the large window and the wall surrounding it. She pushed and tugged gently, sometimes giving it big jerks to help loosen the window. The window gave way, and creaked open ever so slightly.

 _It's opening now._ Linda thought to herself. _I gotta be quick. The cold might wake em' up if grabbing them doesn't._

Linda reached into her hoodie and pulled out some extra rope and...some rather strange gags. They were like large golf balls that had rope going through them...something one might expect to see in one of _those_ kinds of clubs. Linda felt her gut wretch at the sight of them.

 _Fuckin' Trick_ She thought bitterly. _Can't just get normal gags like a sane criminal._ Linda sighed as she tensed her muscles, touching the window as she did so. She closed her eyes for a few seconds as she took a few deep breaths, then she began to creak the window open. She grappled onto the ledge, overlooking the twins who began to twitch and shake at the sudden burst of cold. Ram blinked her eyes ever so slightly open, causing Linda's eyes to widen.

 _Too late to puss out now._ Linda thought to herself.

She fell upon the twins with breathtaking speed, forcing the gags upon both twins with extreme speed and deft skill. Both girls began to scream, though the gags muffled their screams significantly. Linda silently thanked the anti-HDD device she had active in her hoodie as she pinned the twins down with her powerful knees. She grabbed their thrashing, punching arms and kicking legs and tied them to their bodies as skillfully as she could, restricting their movements to little more than wiggling like worms. Linda scooped up the twins under her left arm, barely able to hold on as she leapt back onto the rope. With a swift kick, she knocked the window back into place with a loud THUMP! Linda tugged at the rope, gritting her teeth and sweating in the immense cold as the twins continued to squeal and thrash in her arm.

"Hold on!" Warechu mouthed to Linda as he grabbed the rope. He yanked on it as hard as he could. He grunted and groaned, but he couldn't pull the rope even a centimeter. He glance back over the edge at the dangling trio. Linda looked up at Warechu with worried, sparkly eyes while Ram and Rom flailed and squealed helplessly. An open dumpster full of discarded paper, rags, and cardboard lay a good ways below the danglers. Warechu squinted.

"Good thing we had a 'Plan B.'" Warechu whispered as he put his tiny hands on the hook. He shoved as hard as he could, dislodging the hook from the side of the building. The trio on the other end gasped as they fell swiftly into the dumpster, landing with a metallic THUD! Warechu leapt of the building, aiming for the dumpster as best as he could. He closed his eyes and silently cried.

"My only regret was not being good enough for my dear angel, Compa." Warechu quietly whined mere seconds before he crashed into the dumpster his partner was still inside. Warechu felt thrashing bodies to his sides, and below him, muffled cries coming from everywhere. He felt a nibbling sensation at his groin, so he looked down and saw that he was sitting on top of Linda's mouth.

"Crap!" Warechu whispered harshly as he quickly crawled off of Linda's face, "Sorry about that."

"Maybe wait until AFTER I get out of here with the brats?!" Linda snapped back, "Maybe I wouldn't have gotten rat fur in my mouth that way." Linda slowly stood up, and glanced around.

"The crate!" Linda whispered to Warechu, "Get the friggin crate!" Warechu ran over to a forklift nonchalantly parked in the alleyway, with a large shipping crate resting on the forks. He leapt into the seat and sped over to the dumpster, nearly crashing into it. Linda wasted no time in stuffing the terrified twins into the crate before closing the lid. She pulled a roll of duct tape out of her jacket and taped off the lid, sighing with relief as she did so.

"Duct tape, chu?" Warechu asked, raising his right eyebrow.

"Nails and a hammer would have been too noisy," Linda pointed out as she got onto the forklift, "Now we just gotta get this box of babies to the train yard and we're in the clear."

"I can still hear them thrashing around in there, chu." Warechu said, "If anybody hears them wiggling around in there..."

"They won't." Linda assured him with a smug grin, "It's late at night, they probably haven't gotten a lot of sleep, and they've been using up all of their energy already. They should be out cold by the time we get there."

"Are you sure?" Warechu asked as he got back into the driver's seat of the forklift.

...


	2. Chapter 2: It's Not What It Looks Like!

CHAPTER TWO: IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!

"They're still squirming around, chu." Warechu muttered to Linda as they drove the forklift near the train yard, "I can hear them."

"Yeah, just barely." Linda sighed, "I'm sure it will be fine."

"If the cops catch us, then this was your idea." Warechu said, "I have way too much to look forward to in life, chu."

"Why would it even matter if it was my idea or not?" Linda asked, "You were still an accomplice." Warechu frowned at this.

"Good point." Warechu sighed in a defeated tone as his ears drooped downwards. Linda put her right hand on Warechu's head.

"But hey! We're not going to get caught," Linda chirped quietly, "We're already at the train yard."

The train yard of Lowee was a massive complex housed within a massive structure resembling the onion roofs on the buildings in the inner city; it was splattered with paints of all sorts of colors, making it look like a tye-dye faceless dogoo with grooves. The inside of the train yard was, surprisingly, fairly colorful as well. The walls and platforms, previously a pristine silver facility, was now adorned with hand paintings done by children; many depicted smiling figures of various ages standing in the streets of Lowee, smiling and playing together. Other paintings depicted the forests outside of Lowee, covered in snow and sparkling with light, and some even depicted the CPU, Lady White Heart, standing with other children, other adults, even with the CPUs of other nations. One recent painting, a small, subtle one, with three girls; they all resembled Rom and Ram holding hands, while a disinterested Blanc sits on a nearby park bench reading a book. The trains were the most diverse part of the entire train yard; they were from all of the different nations, after all.

Lowee's trains bore a sweets-related motif; Their fronts looked like sprinkled vanilla cupcakes, with coffee cake smokestacks. The bodies of the trains looked like gingerbread houses, with sugar cookies for wheels...one might get awfully hungry just looking at these sweet, sweet trains. Planeptune's trains had a sleek, ultramodern look to them; smooth edges, a sleek, shiny purple paintjob, and an aerodynamic design were the defining features of this engine. Lastation's trains looked archaic by comparison, but were still quite capable; they resembled old coal-powered trains in structure, but ran on a clean energy source. Leanboxe's trains were...well...boxy. The cars and locomotive were rectangular prisms streaked by lines of glowing green light, which would glow an angry red if the train ever broke down; the highly efficient power system that keeps them aglow 24/7 is a Leanbox secret.

"Right, we just need to find a cargo train headed for Planeptune," Linda whispered, "Then, once we get close enough to LAN Castle, we jump off and take them over."

"A lot easier said than done, chu." Warechu muttered as he drove the forklift through the gate, and towards the trains. Warechu frowned as he got near the first train, looking around.

"We gotta find the right train," Linda said quietly, "You stay with the forklift. I'll try to find a train schedule or something. Here, keep the anti-HDD close by." Linda pulled a small orb out of her hoodie; it looked like a dull, gray metal ball with an antenna poking out. It had the word "Avenir" written along the side. She placed the ball firmly in Warechu's hands, and pointed to the crate.

"Don't stray far now." Linda whispered as she left. She walked quietly upon the platform, glancing around at whatever windows and booths she could find. There were several usher windows, but they were all shut off by locked sliding metal panes. Linda sighed as she walked a bit faster, looking past the childrens' paintings for any sort of clue.

Warechu sat at the forklift, tapping his left foot nervously as he listened; he listened to the quiet cries coming from the box, and at his surroundings.

"C'mon..." Warechu whispered to himself, "hurry up."

"Hey! I think that's the last crate!" A gruff voice called from the trains. Warechu looked over and saw a tall, anthropomorphic pink rabbit man wearing a blue worker's jumpsuit and a blue denim baseball cap.

"Hahaha!" A yellow-furred dog furry wearing a brown aviator jacket and a pair of jeans barked out in a rather punchable tone, "You're right! Lifting crates makes my biceps WAY bigger than running does!" Warechu jumped in front of the two furry gentlemen, waving his arms frantically.

"No! this isn't the right crate, chu!" Warechu squeaked, "Don't touch it!" The two other furries smiled as they glanced down at Warechu.

"Aww...are you lost, young boy?" The rabbit cooed.

"Hahaha! It's way past your bedtime, shortstuff." The dog laughed, "Mama and Papa won't let you have any presents if you stay up too late."

"I'm not a fucking kid, chu!" Warechu protested.

"WOAH!" The bunny exclaimed, throwing his arms up, "If you were my baby brother, my momma would make you wash your mouth with soap for that."

"Can we just move the last crate on already?" The dog furry growled impatiently as he grabbed the crate, "I wanna go home and jog myself to sleep." The two furries pushed past Warechu and lifted the crate off of the forklift.

"Hey! Put that down, chu!" Warechu squeaked in vain as he grabbed the bunny's right leg.

"C'mon, kid. We've got important work to do." The bunny groaned harshly, "It's already weird enough that I'm lifting this box instead of pushing it."

"Meh, he just wants someone to play with, I think." The dog said as he shrugged, "Well look for someone else, kid. We've got important work to do." Several muffled cries came from the box as Warechu continued to clench to the bunny's leg.

"Kid, I said shut up and go home," The bunny groaned, "I'd hate to be rude, but you're testing my patience."

"I don't think that was the kid talking," The dog said as he leaned over, "It sounded more like...the box."

"Don't be stupid, D-Bag!" The bunny groaned, "Boxes don't moan. I've worked with them for all of my life, so I would know." D-Bag gave a concerned look as the trio got near the Leanbox train they were approaching; one of the cars was open, and had only a few crates inside.

"No, I mean it sounds like the noises are INSIDE the crate," D-Bag protested, "Like there's something INSIDE of it." The bunny snarled at D-Bag.

"Now listen here, buster," The bunny sneered as he placed the crate in the car, "Crates have things inside of them because they're used for storage. It's common logic, you dummy."

"No," D-Bag argued, "I mean there might be something LIVING in that crate."

"Like what?" The bunny groaned, "A runaway dogoo? The damn thing has no air holes."

"But..." D-Bag began to argue, but then he groaned and shrugged, "Never mind. You're so damn difficult to work with."

"Well excuse me, 'princess,'" The bunny said angrily as he shook Warechu off of his leg, "I'm not the one who thinks that crates have living feelings."

"Hey! are you two boneheads done packing the train, yet?" The train conductor called from a few cars away. He was a plump man dressed in a black sweater with denim overalls, and he had a thick, brown beard. His voice sounded gruff, as one who smoked and drank whiskey for a few decades might sound.

"No! Not at all!" Warechu squealed desperately.

"Yeah, she's all ready!" The bunny cried out at the same time, even louder. The conductor grunted as he turned the other way, and dashed off at a shockingly fast speed.

"I'm telling you there's something in that fucking crate." D-Bag protested.

"Again, with the fucking crate!" The bunny shouted, his voice exasperated, "Just drop it!"

"You're deaf." D-Bag growled as he lurched towards the bunny.

"You're an asshole." The bunny snapped back.

"You're fucking stupid." D-Bag yelled.

"Fuck you." The bunny hissed as they got face-to-face.

"Fuck you." D-Bag barked as he got his face closer to the bunny's.

"Fuck yoooooouuuu~" The bunny cried out in surprise as D-Bag seized him by his shoulders. He launched his mouth into the bunny's and emitted an almost girlish squeak as their lips connected. The bunny moaned with passion as the two furry men fell to the ground, probing each others' mouths with their tongues as they fondled and groped every last inch of each other. Warechu cringed as he tried to look away from the beautiful furry man-love happening before him, until he heard some quiet wub-like noises emitting from the train.

"Aw crap!" Warechu whispered harshly to himself, "The train is leaving!" Warechu gave a few worried glances around, then saw Linda walking from further down.

"Hey! Chu!" Warechu shouted as he waved his hand to Linda. Linda looked over, then looked away as she covered her eyes.

"The train, you moron!" Warechu shouted, "The train is leaving, chu!" Linda looked back over, and saw Warechu climbing into the open train car, pointing at the duct-tape sealed crate the Lowee twins were still inside of. Her eyes widened as she began to sprint over to the car. The train emitted one rater loud wub noise as it started to move. Linda clenched her teeth as the open car started to move further from her, so she thrust her feet and began to dash as if she were running from a starving pride of lions. Warechu poked his tiny left arm out of the train car, and reached towards Linda.

"Hurry!" Warechu cried out.

"I'm trying!" Linda screamed as she jumped over the two male furry lovers. Linda's heart pounded as both she and the train began to pick up speed. Just when she couldn't go any faster, the car began to move further away again.

"Shit!" Linda screamed as she made a mad leap for the car. She soared towards the train car, the wind whooshing past her ears, as she groped madly in front of her. She grabbed onto the edge of the open train car, and nearly let go when the rest of her hit the side. Her feet dragged across the concrete ground with a screeching noise as she struggled to get up into the car itself. Warechu grabbed Linda's left hand, and pulled back as hard as he could.

"Yaah!" Linda cried out as she launched herself up into the car, knocking Warechu back as they both tumbled into a different crate. They did nothing as the sound of wubs and train wheels flooded the entire car as the train began to accelerate, before the noise died own when the train picked up speed. Linda and Warechu laughed happily and triumphantly as they high-fived.

"Heh, I didn't get a train schedule," Linda chuckled, "But that clearly doesn't matter now, anyway." Warechu frowned as he looked out the open train car door. He saw the train go east, on the track headed for Lastation.

"Bad news, chu." Warechu sighed, "We're going the wrong fuckin' way." Linda stared at the crate as she crawled closer to it.

"Hey! are you listening?" Warechu snapped.

"Yeah," Linda replied nonchalantly, "That sucks."

"Well, what are we gonna do?" Warechu asked, "By the time we get to Lastation, they'll already know." Linda grabbed the top of the duct taped crate, then glanced over at Warechu.

"You still have the anti-HDD?" Linda asked as she cocked her head. Warechu produced the ancient device from under his fur-fold, and threw it over to Linda. Linda extended her hand to try to catch the device, but it smacked her in the face instead.

"Oww!" Linda moaned, "Be careful about how you throw things, jackass."

"Maybe you should get better at catching, chu." Warechu grumbled as he sat down. Linda rubbed her face and picked the device off the floor, placing it back in her hoodie as she did so. She grabbed the top of the crate, and gently tilted it on its side. She grabbed the duct tape on the lid, and tore it off. The lid fell flat on the floor, so Linda reached into the box, and pulled the tied and gagged twins out.

Linda's eyes widened slightly at the sight of them; Rom was crying and curling her bound up body , twitching and writhing as she sobbed. Ram's face was red as she thrashed and made squealing noises, glaring at Linda with a murderous stare.

"What are you doing?" Warechu asked, raising his right eyebrow.

"Gotta let them breathe." Linda replied nonchalantly, "This would all be a waste if they died." She frowned at the twins, who continued to squeal and cry despite the exhaustion.

"good, they're getting tired," Warechu sighed, "Maybe they won't be too noisy." Linda reached for Rom, and picked her up, looking her right in her eyes. Rom's eyes widened as she whimpered even louder. Tears flowed from Rom's eyes, dripping over her gag and onto the floor. Her entire body shivered violently as her pants became rather visibly wet, a small puddle of foul smelling liquid forming at her feet. Linda placed her right hand on the gag, causing both Rom and Ram to emit muffled screams. Linda ripped the gag off of Rom's mouth, her reward being a blaring shriek that hurt her ears.

"Please let me go!" Rom cried loudly, "I don't wanna be here!"

"What the fuck are you doing, chu?!" Warechu asked as Linda reached for Ram, "Someone might hear us!" Linda ignored Warechu and tore the gag off of Ram's mouth.

"You big meanie!" Ram immediately screeched, "Just wait until Blanc finds out about this!"

"I want Blanc." Rom cried pitifully, "Blanc!"

"You're making Rom cry you jerk!" Ram snapped at Linda, "And you made her pee herself, too!"

"Please SHUT UP and listen to me! This isn't quite what you think it is." Linda barked at the twins. They both quieted down, at least enough for Linda to hear her own thoughts.

"What are you-" Warechu began to ask.

"You're sister...Blanc, I believe is her name," Linda said in a calm, sympathetic tone as she cut Warechu off, "She doesn't really pay attention to either of you, does she?" Rom and Ram's eyes widened as their mouths opened just a tiny bit.

"You...you knew?" Rom asked timidly, sniffling a bit. Linda smirked internally.

"Yes, I can read people quite well," Linda said with a big, slightly scary smile, "You really love your sister...but she's...y'know...apathetic."

"She's not pathetic." Ram said with a pout, "She could kick your butt no problem." Linda giggled as she shook her head.

"No, I mean...she takes you for granted. She has no idea how important she is to you, or how important you are to her." Rom and Ram frowned as they looked downwards.

"Blanc doesn't love us?" Rom sniveled, shedding a few more tears.

"Oh no no no no no." Linda said as she shook her head quickly, "She LOOOOOOOVES you both. She just doesn't know that."

"That doesn't make any sense!" Ram complained, "If she loved us, she should feel it! She should know!"

"You're right...Ram." Linda replied, "She *should* know that she loves you...which is why I 'kidnapped' you." Both of the twins cocked their heads, as bewildered expressions crossed their faces.

"What?" They both asked simultaneously. Linda chuckled as she stepped a little closer to the twins.

"You two love each other, right?" Linda asked softly. The twins nodded without hesitation.

"But you don't really think about it all of the time, right?" The twins nodded slowly.

"But you'd be really sad, and really angry if one of you...disappeared, right?" Ram scowled as she nodded powerfully. Rom nodded, but not as forcefully.

"And you'd be EXTREMELY happy if they came back, right? You'd never, ever, EVER want to lose them again, right? You'd just hug them, and kiss them, and think of them all of the time after that, right?" The twins' eyes sparkled a bit as they both backed off slightly.

"Y...Yeah..." Rom hesitantly replied.

"Yes." Rom said quietly.

"Well, THAT'S why me and Mr. Mouse here are doing this," Linda explained, "We're going to worry the piss out of your older sister, really make her think she's never going to see you again, you see. She'll panic and cry and throw a bunch of fits...until you get back."

"Mina told us that running away is bad." Rom said with a pout.

"That's the best part," Linda said as she clasped her hands, "It's *not* running away; you were 'kidnapped.' She'll hug and kiss and pamper you girls, and I'll get all of the blame for your 'disappearance.'" The twins glanced at each other with wide, excited eyes, but Ram narrowed them as she glared back at Linda.

"You're an ASIC girl, aren't you?" Ram sneered, "You're just pulling a trick." Linda raised her arms defensively as she backed off a bit.

"Oh, _those_ old dill weeds? You think I still work for them? Ha!" Linda laughed triumphantly, "ASIC is full of bullshit. They work you like a slave and pay you worse than one, so me and Mr. Mouse quit, right?" Linda nudged Warechu's shoulder, giving him a knowing wink. Rom cringed a bit.

"Oh...yeah! She's right!" Warechu hastily replied, "They pay...paid me in cheese. _Cheese!_ Buncha racist pricks think that mice *only* want fuckin' cheese. Hey, Arf-whore! How about some fuckin' cash so I can actually pay for a nice damn dinner date with my dear, darling Compa?" Everybody stared at Warechu strangely. Rom was cringing uncomfortably in place. Warechu sighed as he waved his right hand dismissively.

"...Chu." Warechu coughed out.

"Yeah, things were pretty bad back at ASIC," Linda sighed, "So we ditched them, and now we want to make up for the bad shit we've done to you by helping you and your sister grow closer." Ram smiled a little bit, but Rom looked terribly uncomfortable.

"Is there a problem, Rom?" Linda asked, tilting her head and frowning.

"Could you please stop saying bad words?" Rom asked with a sniffle, "I don't like hearing bad words."

"Really?" Linda asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Mina said we shouldn't ever, ever say them," Rom said softly, "That's why they're bad."

"I'm an adult." Linda said in an annoyed tone, "I can say fuck and shit and piss and crap like that." Rom started to cry as Ram clenched her fists.

"If you don't stop saying bad words, I'll scream 'kidnapper' until someone hears us!" Ram shouted. Linda internally slapped herself as she clenched her eyes.

"Okay, Rom. I'm sorry for saying that," Linda said softly as she patted Rom on her head, "I won't say fu...those words anymore. I promise." Rom looked up to Linda with starry, wet eyes and a small smile.

"Okay." Rom replied quietly. Linda turned her head to face Ram. Ram sighed with a pouty face.

"Alright. If Rom is okay with it, then I am." Ram said, "But Blanc better love us more after this, or I'm kicking your butt. Now cut us free from these ropes." Linda smiled as she reached for Rom's back.

"Oh! Silly me!" Linda giggled as she untied both of the twins. Warechu shot a worried look towards Linda as he shook his head. Linda glared at him as she finished untying Ram.

"Now, it's still kinda late," Linda told Rom and Ram, "You might wanna crawl behind those crates and get take a nap or something."

"My pants are wet." Rom complained quietly, "It's your fault because you scared me."

"Yeah, get her some new jammies or else!" Ram growled. Linda sighed as she reached into her hoodie. she pulled a pair of sweat pants out.

"Geez, how much room do you have in there?" Warechu asked as he rolled his eyes, "Enough for lady White Heart's hammer?"

"Here, these may be a little big for you," Linda cooed to Rom as she ignored Warechu, "Now go get changed and get some shuteye."

"Okay." Rom quietly replied as she crawled back behind some crates with her new pants. Rom crawled after her, and shot a glare back towards Linda and Warechu.

"No peeking." Ram said sternly, "I'll hurt you bad if you do."

"We won't." Linda calmly replied as she laid back, looking at Warechu upside down.

"What the hell was that all about, chu?" Warechu whispered harshly.

"The 'scenic route' to LAN Castle will be a lot easier if the twins are willingly going with us," Linda explained quietly, "No body bags, no suspicious crates, no disgusting ball gags...just three girls and a mouse."

"The CPUs will know who they are." Warechu argued.

"Oh yeah, like the CPUs have nothing better to do than to *personally* inspect every bloody train in their nations' train yards." Linda replied sarcastically.

"Someone else might still know who they are." Warechu muttered.

"I think I know how to deal with that." Linda said with a devilish smirk.

...

P.S: Oh yeah, I forgot; there is also going to be furry romance (and maybe even sex) in this fic. Sorry for not letting you know sooner. (Uo)^3


	3. Chapter 3: Humanitarian Aid

CHAPTER THREE: HUMANITARIAN AID

Rom and Ram cuddled and slept quietly in the corner of the train car as Linda pried another nearby crate open. she frowned as she looked through the crate's contents.

"Eh...no clothes." Linda mumbled with frustration, "Pleeeeenty of balls...but not a single article of clothing."

"I figured this would be the part where our plan goes to shit, chu." Warechu mumbled as he stared at the ground, "Why don'cha just pull out a buncha coats from your hoodie?"

"There are limits to what you can fit in a hooded jacket." Linda sighed as she shook her head, reaching for another crate, "You've pretty much seen everything I've managed to fit in there already."

"Well, I'm not sure what we're gonna do now." Warechu groaned.

"How about you get off your lazy ass and help me look?" Linda sneered as she looked at some tennis rackets in the crate with a scowl.

"Because I don't wanna waste time, chu." Warechu replied. A loud CRASH noise blasted throughout the train as it bumped and skidded, causing several crates to slide and crash near the front of the car. The twins shrieked as they crashed into a pile of damaged crates. Rom cried loudly when she saw several crates sliding directly towards them.

"Crap!" Linda yelled as she saw the box sliding towards them. She lunged for the twins, almost crashing into them as her arms wrapped around them like a boa constrictor on caffeine. She yanked back hard, causing the three of them to fall backwards onto the floor before the crates crashed into the spot the twins were sitting mere seconds before. A loud honk-sounding wub burst from the train for a few otherwise silent seconds before the train came to a complete halt. Linda smiled nervously at the frowning Rom in her arms.

"Heh...sorry for saying that bad word." Linda chuckled, "I was just worried."

"You still shouldnt've said it." Ram said angrily, "You promised you wouldn't!"

"It's okay, Ram." Rom cooed as she placed her right hand on Ram's face, "Miss Underling was just really scared."

"Aww geez!" Ram sighed as she rolled her eyes and pushed Rom's hand away, "You're already calling her 'Miss' Underling? What's next? Are you gonna have a crush on _her,_ too?!" Rom's face turned beet red as she shook her head vigorously.

"Nooo! Nononononono!" Rom pleaded, "I...I don't have a crush on anyone, Ram!"

"Yeah right!" Ram squeaked angrily, "I already know you have a crush on Ne-"

"Will you broads shut up, chu?" Warechu moaned painfully as he tried to free himself from Linda's underside, "Get offa me!" Linda smirked as she stood up, placing the twins next to her before she let go of them.

"Karma for jumping on me crotch first." Linda laughed with a hint of cruelty in her voice.

"Pfft. YOU are the one bringing up karma?" Warechu scoffed. Linda had ignored Warechu, and looked out the train car. She frowned when she saw that the glowing green lights on the sides of the Leanbox train had turned a dark, dangerous red.

"Bad news girls," Linda said loudly, "The train broke down." Everybody else groaned.

"What are we gonna do now, chu?" Warechu asked in an exasperated tone.

"We'll just have to hoof it." Linda said, "They'll probably inspect the whole train, and they don't like stowaways."

"Aww! That'll take too long." Ram complained, "We'll be old ladies by the time we get to Lastation."

"Oldies." Rom said, shuttering at the thought.

"Oh suck it up and live a little," Linda grumbled as she walked to the other side of the train car, "We'll get there faster if we start now." Linda grabbed the door on the other side, and she moved towards the corner.

"Where are we, anyway?" Ram asked as she looked out the already opened door, "All I can see out this door is a big, red, rock wall."

"Well, let's find out." Linda said as she jammed her crowbar in the crack of the train door. She yanked back as hard as she could, throwing the train door wide open. What lay before her was a vast, tan desert. Dunes rose and fell across the landscape, broken only by the prescience of thoroughly eroded red rocks scattered to and fro. The sky was blue and cloudless as the sun poured its unshielded golden heat upon the already burning hot sand that waved and sank. There didn't seem to be any sort of organic life outside at all...with the exception of a snake that quickly slithered inside of a small crack in one of the rocks. Linda frowned at this sight.

"Ugh, this is no good," Linda groaned, "There's no way we'd survive a trek across the desert without food and water...and there's none in this car." Everybody groaned with frustration again.

"Yep. It's going down the pipes alright." Warechu sighed.

"If we die out here, it's your fault!" Ram shouted accusingly at Linda.

"Miss Underling..." Rom began to snivel.

"Please, calm down, everybody," Linda said loudly as she turned to face her crew, "We'll just quickly look in the other cars. Maybe we'll find some food and water somewhere else on the train." Warechu, Rom, and Ram all widened their eyes as they looked behind Linda, as if they were all about to get run over by a truck.

"Hey, c'mon." Linda said reassuringly, "It's not that big of a-" Linda was smacked forwards by a powerful force, causing her to crash face first at Rom and Ram's feet. She rolled onto her back and looked where she had stood mere moments ago.

The figure that stood before her could only sort of be described as a human being. She definitely had the general shape of a young, curvy, average-busted human woman, but that's where the normality ends. The woman had three legs, but one of which was short like a toddler's leg, and protruded from her rear as if it were a tail. She had three arms, the third of which protruded from just below her navel; it looked like a right arm, and seemed fully functional. The girl had three breasts, which were all noticeably different cup sizes, with the smallest being in the center. Her face was practically covered in eyes wherever there wasn't a mouth or nose, each one either a dull green or faded blue. Her long, barbaric messy brown hair draped over her back, swaying in the desert wind outside. Her pale lime skin was covered in large tumors and calluses, some of which throbbed and twitched. She was wearing seemingly whatever clothing she could fish out of the garbage; ripped up jeans that were missing the entire right pant leg, showing off a bit of her faded, bleach stained pink panties occupied her legs. Her deranged bosom was covered by some crude brassier cobbled together from small cooking skillets and a leather belt. She wore a single crusty brown hiking boot on her left foot, but her right foot was clad in a tight, red and white sneaker with a yellow star on it.

Perhaps most importantly, this girl held a large two-by-four piece of plywood in her two "normal" hands. She growled and drooled menacingly at Linda. Linda just blinked at her.

"A mutant." Linda gasped. The mutant girl punched Linda square in her face with her middle arm.

"Fuck you!" The girl gargled out in a gravelly, six-pack-of-smokes-and-a-shot-of-whiskey-a-day-for-ten-years voice, "Linda, bitch ass motherfucker!" Linda's eyes sparkled as she looked into the mutant's "original" eyes. Warechu shuddered as he stepped forward.

"Lime?" Warechu asked quietly, his voice high and shocked, "Is that really you? What happened?" Lime, the mutant, glared at Warechu.

"Fucking glowy thing." Lime spat, "Linda too stupid and weak to learn it, so I try. Stupid fucking Linda. Stupid fucking Sam." Linda scowled as she climbed to her feet, standing between the mutant and the shuddering Lowee twins.

"Nobody said that YOU had to go there, too Lime," Linda argued back, trying in vain to hold back a tear, "What happened to me and Sam should have been a warning." Lime merely spat a mucus-filled mutant loogie right in Linda's face, who wiped it away.

"Just what are you doing here anyway, Lime?" Warechu asked with trepidation, "I mean...what's in this train that you could want?" The mutant girl smirked smugly, revealing her yellow, rotting shark tooth-like fangs.

"Want supplies," She said bluntly, "We want steal eat drink."

"'We?'" Linda asked hesitantly, she saw several more freakish mutants in similar states of dress crowd both of the train car doors, and the whole gang could hear pattering footsteps on the train car's roof. Lime looked past Linda at the trembling, whimpering twins. Her smile widened as she drooled even more.

"And me just found yummy meat." She said in a low, creepy tone. Linda got back between Lime and the twins.

"Y...You can't have them!" Linda shouted angrily, "They're-" Linda was beaten aside by Limes' two-by-four as she lunged for the twins. Rom and Ram shrieked as they were violently grabbed by three, powerful, muscular mutant arms. Linda tried to stand up, but was smashed back to the ground by a horde of other wheezing mutant bandits who had already started to bind her arms and legs together. Warechu squeaked frantically as he was grabbed by two young, twin mutants who didn't seem to understand the concept of sharing. After tying and gagging the twins once again, Lime turned around, and kicked Linda square in her mouth.

...

...

Blanc woke up to Mina shaking her body, a worried frown upon her face.

"Blanc, wake up." Mina said quietly, but urgently, "You've got to get ready for the speech." Blanc yawned as she stretched out her arms.

"Did Rom and Ram get ready yet?" Blanc asked slowly, "They usually like to wait till I get up before they take a bath."

"They weren't in their room," Mina admitted, "They weren't anywhere in the Basilicom, and Rom left her bed in a very messy state." Blanc shrugged as she slowly got up.

"Maybe they were really excited at the idea of another day at the festival," Blanc suggested, "They DID say that they didn't want to be a part of the speech."

"But I promised they could open presents with you if they did," Mina fumed, "Something is horribly wrong."

"Don't be such a worry wart." Blanc sighed as she made her way towards the bathroom, "Besides, Marvy will be able to track them down if we can't."

"It's my job to be a worry wart." Mina stated, "You have a speech to give, but..."

"But...?" Blanc asked as she started to fill the bath tub with water. Mina swallowed as she fought back a cold chill on her spine.

"I...I'm going to go look for Rom and Ram," Mina said, "If you see them anywhere..."

"They'll be fine, Mina." Blanc said in an exasperated tone as she slowly stripped out of her clothes, "They love getting into trouble. I would know." Mina walked out the door into the public portion of the Basilicom. She turned to a blonde girl dressed in maid attire, and nodded.

"I'll leave the rest of the preparations to you, Financiér." Mina told her. Financiér nodded.

"Hope you find those little rascals soon," Financiér chuckled, "It's going to be embarrassing enough to not have them present at the speech." Mina sighed as she headed out the Basilicom door. The streets, once empty at night, were now packed with people in all different shapes, sizes, and colors. They were all excitedly moving towards the city square, where Lady White Heart, and presumably the White Twins would give their annual Winter Festival speech. She looked frantically among the crowd as a cold sweat began to form on her spine. Mina gently slapped herself as she recomposed herself.

 _Just looking at everybody won't get you anywhere,_ Mina thought as she regained her composure, _Just think about the place they are most likely to be._ Mina turned right and started to head for the festival grounds at the side of the Basilicom. A few people turned their heads towards her, but none of them approached her. Mina passed by the wing of the Basilicom that housed the twins' room when she noticed a dumpster in all of its rusted, faded green glory. She slowly approached the dumpster, and looked inside of it. She narrowed her eyes at the sight of all the cardboard, cotton, paper, and other soft materials, which were all caved and pressed down around the center.

"This isn't supposed to be here." Mina whispered harshly to herself, "And all of these soft things...they're like a mattress..."

...


	4. Chapter 4: Rude Awakening

CHAPTER FOUR: RUDE AWAKENING!

Linda slowly opened her eyes to the sight of the interior of some sort of hut; the walls were lined with old, rusty sheet metal and rusty red rebar wires tied together as if they were straw. there was no floor, save for the warm, tan sand indicative of the desert. Linda was tied up, leaned against the far wall of the hut...and was surrounded by tied up, sawed off arms and legs, dripping with blood and all.

"The fuck...?" Linda whispered as she trembled at the sight of the severed human limbs. They were not mutant limbs; they were too normal, natural, and tumor-less looking to belong to any member of this village. She bolted her head upwards and saw the Lowee Twins tied together, still unconcious upon a rusty iron table placed against another part of the hut wall. Linda sighed, seeing that they seemed unharmed before she broke into a cold sweat.

 _Where's Warechu?_ Linda thought as her eyes darted about the room, _He hasn't snarked at me yet. Did...did they eat him already?_ The metal on the far end of the hut began to scuffle, causing Linda to jerk off. She shuttered as a menacing, two-headded shadow emerged from the far end of the hut. Linda closed her eyes and whimpered slightly, biting her bottom lip.

"Scary?" Asked a strange, high-pitched yet gruff voice from the shadow's direction, "Not scary! Friends!" Linda slowly opened her eyes to meet the stranger's...or rather, the strangers' gaze.

They were the twins who had grabbed Warechu earlier; they were actually two seperate, sentient heads attached to the same little girl's body. Both heads had extremely messy, somewhat meingy charred black hair with several patches missing. They both had fairly normal looking faces, but their noses were pretty large, and they had massive overbites with very crooked buck teeth. Although the girls had the same sunburnt-looking extremely-pale slightly-reddish skin, the left head had orange eyes that literally glowed, while the right head had dull blue eyes that had green spots on them. They were wearing a ratty-looking robe made from rags that went down to the fused girls' knobby knees, revealing their scruffy little feet beneath. The poor girls looked like they had not gotten enough to eat, as their body looked dangerously emaciated.

Linda blinked a few times as she stared at the mutant twins.

"Who are you?" Linda asked, "And what have you done with Warechu?"

"Me Bit." The right head replied with a wide, crooked toothed smile.

"Me Torrent," The left head responded with a more serious look on her face, "What Warry-choo?" The earlier voice must have been Nit's, for Torrent's voice sounded older, and less scratchy, as if she were a teenager while Bit was still a pre-pubescent child.

"He's a mouse," Linda said with a quiet sigh, "he's about as tall as my shin, he has black fur, and he wears girly little red stockings. He also has a tattoo of ASIC's logo on his belly."

"Oh! Mousey!" Bit chirped loudly. Torrent held a finger to Bit's mouth to hush her.

"Me want eat mousey. No want eat people." Torrent shamefully admitted, "Bit want mousey pet. Coin toss, and mousey pet."

"Well, that's a relief," Linda whispered harshly, "but where IS he?" Both heads looked at each other in confusion.

"She's he?" Bit asked, scratching her head. Linda's eyes widened slightly as her mouth opened a bit.

"Wait...you thought Warechu was a...?" Linda began to ask, but she couldn't finish asking her question. She blushed and smirked at the same time, instead. She saw his familiar mouse ears poking out from the entrance of the hut.

"Warechu!" Linda piped up. Bit and Torrent slapped their hands over Linda's mouth after she shouted.

"No!" Bit hissed with a frown.

"Quiet." Torrent whispered. Torrent looked back towards the hut's entrance just in time to see Warechu's ears poking around the corner. The twin mutants dashed towards the entrance, and grabbed Warechu by his hears before he could get away. Torrent put her hand over Warechu's mouth, muffling his screams and protests as they brought him into the hut.

Warechu was now wearing a curly strawberry-blonde mid-length wig that let his ears poke through. He also wore a pink-red plaid lolita dress with a poofy balloon skirt that had girly little frills around the edges. Finally, he wore dark red high heels, complimenting his already effeminite high heel socks. Linda smirked as she stared right at Warechu, who looked away.

"It suits you," Linda giggled, "You're honestly really cute now."

"Shut the fuck up, chu." Warechu grumbled as he glared at Linda.

"C'mon, it could be worse," Linda whispered, "They could've decided to eat you instead."

"I almost wish they had." Warechu mumbled as he shook his head.

"Or maybe that broad you like so much could see you in drag like this," Linda hummed, "What was her name?"

"C...Compa..." Warechu gasped gravely as the color drained from his face, "I'd rather die than let her see me like this."

"Really?" Linda asked as she rolled her eyes, "She seems like the sort of girl who would-"

"Can we just shut up about it, chu?" Warechu snapped quietly, "We need to get ourselves and the brats outta here." Linda glanced over at Rom and Ram, then back towards Bit and Torrent.

"I don't suppose you could help us, could you?" Linda asked the mutant twins. Bit and Torrent looked at each other, and scowled confusedly for a second. After what felt like a full minute, The twins turned back to her.

"Keep mousey pet?" Bit asked, a puppyish look on her face.

"No." Linda sighed, "He's my friend. I can't just leave him here." Warechu's eyes sparkled as his tense face relaxed, but the mutant twins both looked disappointed.

"No." Bit growled, "Want mousey pet."

"C'mon." Linda groaned in an exaspirated voice, "He's not happy here with you anyway." The two girls frowned at this statement, and Torrent shook her head.

"Want mousey pet, want deal." She said bluntly, with a stoic, almost expressionless face, "What give for mousey pet?" Torrent's eyes peered over at the Lowee twins, who were still tied up with crude, fiborous ropes, and still clad in their sleepwear. Linda shook her head.

"Not them either." Linda said sternly. Torrent pouted, her cheeks puffing out, as she shot a disapproving glare.

"What give then?" Torrent asked in a frustrated tone. Linda felt something round and hard in her hoodie, then smiled.

"I have a shiny ball," Linda said, a hint of excitement in her voice, "It's in my jacket, so you'll have to untie me."

"Why want ball?" Bit asked as she tilted her head curiously, "Plenty ball in village."

"This is a special ball," Linda replied, "It can protect you from CPUs." Warechu's eyes widened, but the twin mutants continued to stare strangely at Linda.

"Why protect from CPU?" Torrent asked with suspicion in her voice, "CPU no care about us. No threat. Just annoy."

"Because it's very shiny and pretty, too," Linda said, a hint of desperation in her voice, "You can sell it for food if you don't like it."

"Food?" Both sisters said as they salivated, "Yummy food? Yummy meat?"

"Yes!" Linda said loudly, "Just take it and cut me and the kids free!" The twins looked around with worried winces, but they nodded towards Linda. They bore their razor sharp nails on their bumpy hands, and slowly cut the ropes off. Linda smiled as she groped the ball in her hoodie, silently thanking the radiation that addled the mutants' brains that they did not take it yet.

"Don't..." Warechu whispered as he shook his head. Linda pulled the anti-HDD device from her hoodie, and showed it to the twins.

"See?" Linda whispered with a wide, almost frantic smile, "See how shiny it is?"

"Ooooooh!" Bit cried out loudly, "Shiiinyyyy!" Bit seized the odd ball from Linda without hesitation.

"The fuck is in there?!" A gruff, gravely voice called from outside the hut, causing Linda to break into a cold sweat. The twins twitched around nervously as they turned to the hut's entrance.

"Nothing!" Torrent squealed frantically, "No people food here! Go away!" Lime smashed her way into the hut, glaring down at the twin mutants and Linda with a furious, light-vanquishing scowl.

"'Nothing,' huh?" Lime barked at the trio, "Then why is Linda no tied, huh?!" The twin mutants opened their moths to speak, but they yelped when Lime shoved them out of the way into a pile of dismembered limbs. The Lowee twins woke up just in time to see Lime grab Linda's throat, and lift her menacingly into the air.

"Miss Linda!" Rom cried out. Linda stared over at Rom and Ram with a small twinkle in her eye.

"Hey! Let us go, you big jerk!" Ram screamed at Lime. Lime smirked like a hungry shark at the Lowee twins, licking her lips.

"You're all gonna be food," Lime growled sadistically, "Food for warlord." Lime grabbed the Lowee twins under her left arm, and grabbed Linda's right leg with her right. She walked outside the hut as she dragged Linda on the ground behind her. Linda kicked, thrashed, and shouted along with the twins, but to no avail.


	5. Chapter 5: White Siter Ram-Page

A.N: Sorry for the late update. Classes and NaNoWriMo, and all of that.

CHAPTER FIVE: WHITE SISTER RAM-PAGE!

The village itself was composed of similar scrap metal huts arranged as a big circle around a central, flat area. All of the rusty, jagged, sand-beaten huts were about the same size, except for one atop a dune, which was three times as big, and had several flags made from tanned and leathered human skin. These flags were frayed, but they all bore a crudely drawn image of a fat boar with three tusks. The center of the village had a large gazebo-like roof made from rusty scraps, but had no walls, and was instead supported by four thin lead pipes that held it up like a tent. In the center of this "tent," there was a fat, mutated red octopus-like person who had warty arms instead of tentacles. They had long black hair that covered most of their face and some of their upper body, but they were very sickly greenish-yellow colored...and very fat. The person-topus was snorting as they sat nude in the center of a pile of dirty, greasy skillets and pots, but some of them were hoisted over small fires, and filled with chopped up, half-cooked human meat, including entire severed limbs. Many other mutants were scampering around, or waiting in line to be served the cooked flesh.

"Unhand me, you villainous bastards!" The train conductor shouted. He was tied up and inside of a crooked, rusty cage that several mutants were carrying towards the "tent." Lime carried her victims away from the screaming train conductor, and into the largest tent in the village. It looked like the interior of the other hut, but there was a large throne made of bleached, ivory bones in the center of it. The throne was adorned with long-snouted skulls that had long horns on them.

Upon this throne sat a beast of a man. His stench was the first noticeable thing about him; he smelled like a corpse that was wrapped in decaying moss. His face was young, but droopy and covered in scars, with two warthog-like tusks protruding from his mouth. His hair was arranged in several braids, with small wishbones sticking through each loop in a distorted, inconsistent way. Despite his bulging pot belly, he had very muscular arms and legs, with three-talon having hands and feet. His purple skin was covered in many scars and blisters, several of which had burst open and oozed a sky blue pus.

"Warlord Kazaa!" Lime cried out in an almost fangirlish manner, "I bring meat!" Linda stopped thrashing, and stared at the warlord for a few seconds.

"Kazaa?" Linda asked hoarsely, "You're a fu...friggin warlord now?!" Kazaa glared at Linda from where he sat. He slowly lifted his right arm, and pointed accusingly at Linda.

"Mutie Linda..." Kazaa growled in a seemingly impossibly deep, but very clear voice, "You dare show up here?" Linda frowned in a puppy-ish way at Kazaa.

"I mean seriously," Linda scoffed, "You're the LAST member of ASIC I expected to become a bandit warlord." Kazaa scowled, and stood up, stamping his feet harshly as if he were trying to start an earthquake.

"Shut up!" Kazaa screamed furiously, "I'm not wimp anymore! I'm Kazaa! I'm great warlord!" Kazaa slammed his right foot down upon Linda's chest, emitting a sickening CRACK!

"Oww..." Linda coughed out, "Is that...how you treat...the girl...who shared...her salvage...with you?"

"Kazaa don't need stupid Linda!" Kazaa barked, "Kazaa have Lime! Kazaa have tribe!"

"Oh, so you can beat around your old friend just because you're one of the 'cool kids' now?!" Linda hissed angrily. Kazaa kicked her right in her jaw as he huffed like an angry bull.

"Lime! Kill!" Kazaa ordered, "Kazaa want annoying EX-friend shut up!" Warechu, Bit, and Torrent gasped quietly from behind the hut entrance where they hid.

"Guys, you gotta take out the ball," Warechu whispered desperately to the mutant twins, "it's important." Bit and Torrent hesitated, but they pulled the anti-HDD ball from their robes.

"Why ball?" Torrent asked as she held out the ball, its antenna poking high up. Warechu's heart nearly stopped when he saw Lime toss Rom and Ram aside, and reach for a rusty machete lodged into the throne. Warechu lunged for the ball, slamming its antenna down with a loud CLICK.

"Rom! Ram!" Warechu yelled into the hut, "Do your goddess thingy! Now!" Everybody stared right at Warechu.

"We can't." Rom cried as Lime and Kazaa began to lurch for Warechu, "We tried already."

"Just fucking DO IT!" Warechu screamed as Lime raised her machete high into the air.

BWEEE!

A bright blue, and bright pink flash of light erupted from the inside of the hut, causing Lime and Kazaa to stumble off balance for a second. After the light died down, everybody looked over to the source of the lights. Rom and Ram floated above the ground in their HDD forms, their bindings now nothing more than a few shreds upon the ground. They both scowled at Lime and Kazaa as they formed their hands into fists.

"We may not have our staves," Ram shouted, "But we'll kick your butts!"

"CPU?" Kazaa asked in an almost amused tone, "You CPU?!"

"Yeah!" Ram squealed as she flew forwards, smashing her fist against Kazaa's malformed nose, "Don't underestimate us." Kazaa stumbled backwards, covering his bloody nose while Lime raised her machete in the air once more. She swung it downwards with breathtaking speed as she screeched menacingly.

CLANG!

Her machete abruptly stopped against a metal lamp that Rom held as she gritted her teeth. Lime swiped her machete to the left, yanking the lamp out of Rom's hands and tossing it aside. Lime leapt towards Rom, screaming like an angry panther. Rom drifted back...and yelped as her left leg was nipped by the very tip of the machete. Lime grinned for a moment.

WHAM!

Rom clobbered the mutant over her head so hard that Lime heard nothing but an intense ringing for a few seconds.

"Don't you dare hurt my sister!" Rom shouted as she kicked Lime in the side of her face, sending the mutant woman crashing to the ground.

"CPU! CPU!" Kazaa screamed to the rest of the village outside, "There CPU here! Kill them!" All of the mutants turned towards Kazaa's hut; even the human-topus dropped the train conductor they were about to chop up, letting him flop upon the big cutting board amidst his set of pots and pans. The train conductor took this opportunity to sprint behind a hut before anybody could notice him. The mutants roared as they grabbed sharp, jagged weapons from underneath various baskets, pots, and pans placed throughout the village. Bit, Torrent, and Warechu all shuttered at the sight of an entire army of poorly dressed mutants wielding rusty, sharp metal tools of death and carnage.

"Shit." Torrent muttered.

"We gotta get out of here." Warechu gasped quietly, "But how?"

"Vroom-vroom." Bit whined, "We need a Vroom-vroom." Warechu raised his eyebrow as Bit pointed frantically off behind some of the other huts. There were a few buggy-like vehicles decked out in broken car and train parts; they had jagged, sharp "wings" off to the side, spikes with skulls mounted all over them, and spikes on their tires. They were all parked in a disorderly frenzy in a flat area, as if they were frozen in time in the middle of a destruction derby. Bit and Torrent started sprinting for the cars, but Warechu stayed.

"I'm not leaving them behind!" Warechu shouted. He rushed into the hut as Rom was flung past his head, crashing into the sand behind him. She moaned in pain as she slowly pushed herself up. She briefly stopped when a flying metal spear flew past her left ear, and lodged itself into the sand right next to her. Kazaa laughed a cruel, throaty laugh as he held both Ram and Linda against the rear wall by their throats, despite his own body being covered in cuts and bruises. His whole body shook with pain, but his arms held despite their immense tremoring. Lime was on the ground, but slowly getting up.

"Lucky me." Kazaa growled, "Me kill CPU and annoying Linda..."

"Kill this, asshole!" Linda gurgled as she thrust both of her feet into Kazaa's stomach, causing him to drop both of his victims and reel backwards. Ram balled up her fists, and punched Kazaa in his face with both of her hands at once, causing him to roar as he fell on his back. Ram smirked at her handiwork for just a second before Lime slashed at her face with her rusty machete. Ram screamed as blood flew from her left cheek, causing her to move her hands to cover her wound.

"Ram!" Linda cried out as she rushed towards Ram. Lime punched Linda in her already-hurt ribcage with her middle arm, causing Linda to groan painfully as she collapsed to the ground. Lime grinned as she lifted the machete, pointing it down at Linda in a stabbing motion.

"Yes," Lime heaved, "I kill this asshole." Lime screamed as she thrust the sword into the sand next to Linda, then flailed about the room with Warechu on her back, biting into her neck and causing it to bleed like a broken ketchup bottle. Kazaa tried to get up, but Bit and Torrent ran over him, stepping on his face and knocking him back down.

"We gotta leave now!" Torrent screamed, "Village angry! Hundreds! Kill you!" Linda's eyes widened as she looked out the tent entrance, and saw the distant, but rapidly approaching mutant villagers, who swung their already bloodied weapons about with reckless abandon.

"Ram!" Linda cried out again as she reached for Ram, and grabbed her by her waist. She ran off after Bit and Torrent, stepping on Kazaa's face as she made her way out. Rom had gotten to her feet, barely dodging a spear that whizzed past her head. Linda grabbed Rom by her left arm with her own free arm, and continued to follow Bit and Torrent. They slid down the dune, kicking up a dust storm that partially clouded the spears and arrows that flew over their heads, lodging themselves in the soft sand. When they reached the bottom of the hill, Torrent pointed to a jagged, red buggy vehicle in front of them.

"There!" Torrent squeaked, "That vroom-vroom!" They made a mad, adrenaline fueled dash for the strange car as they narrowly avoided more rusty, sharp weapons impaling themselves in the sand where the girls had once been. Linda practically leapt into the passenger's seat, carefully holding Ram's head so it wouldn't jolt or jostle. Rom flopped into the back seat, heaving like a cheetah that failed to catch a gazelle as Warechu followed suit. Bit and Torrent stared wide eyed at Linda from the other side of the car.

"Do you know how to drive this thing?" Linda asked frantically as she held Ram close, looking at her cut face to see the extent of the wound.

"No." Torrent replied.

"Nu-Uh." Bit said in a worried tone, "Never drive vroom-vroom ever." Linda clenched her teeth as she frantically glanced to the top of the hill, the swarm of mutants already peeking over and aiming their next volley. Linda roughly shoved Ram to the back seat, eliciting a squeak from the girl as Linda jumped over to the driver seat.

"Then get in the back and take care of the girls!" Linda shouted, "Warechu, get up here!" Bit and Torrent barely had time to get on the buggy before Linda twisted the...oddly keyless...ignition and slammed her foot onto the gas petal. Warechu screamed as he nearly fell off, clenching onto one of the framework pipes as the next volley of sharpness barely nipped his right ear. A few arrows thudded into the framework of the buggy as it sped off towards the relatively flat, open desert in front of them. Linda sighed, but her arms remained shaky upon the steering wheel as she tried her best to drive around any bumps from the ground. A bright flash came from the back of the buggy as Rom and Ram reverted from their HDD forms, going almost limp with pained sounding moans.

"Are you okay back there?" Linda asked, not taking her eyes off of the road.

"So tired..." Ram groaned as she clenched her hands over her face wound.

"HDD makes us real tired, real fast." Rom added, "I was still sleepy, anyway."

"Well, that's fine," Linda said as she dodged another potential bump, "We've gotten away from them, anyway." Bit and Torrent shook their heads as they pointed backwards.

"Uhh...Linda," Warechu shouted loudly, "You're wrong about that." Linda glanced behind herself, and saw that a row of other buggies, filled with raging, screaming mutants, were rushing behind them with an enormous dust cloud in tow, like a stampeding barbarian horde riding to burn and pillage an unsuspecting peaceful town.

"Oh fuck me." Linda hissed too quietly for anybody else to hear.


	6. Chapter 6: Setting the World on Fire

A.N: Thank you "Eh," for your review. I have noticed that I'm growing a bit too attached to the wasteland-y part of the story, but I assure you that they will be out of it soon. I'm afraid the tone is going to be quite dark throughout, though...that's just how I roll, as my other stories will testify...I don't even know why, to be honest. This story will have some genuinely light, fluffy, and touching moments in it, though.

Without spoiling too much, things will end well for **at least one** of the main characters.

(Also, I don't have Fallout 4.)

Also, don't worry too much about Rom and Ram...I don't plan on portraying anything graphic or offensive with them...maybe something _implied_ at absolute worst (Also, don't forget that Linda and Warechu are the main characters, too.) In any case, I want to make it clear that **drugs, rape, cannibalism, child abuse, kidnapping etc. are BAD, and you should not do them.**

(Also, Rom and Ram won't commit incest. That's going to be a side plot involving somebody else.)

Again, thank you for your critique and concern, and I hope you enjoy the rest of the story if you plan on reading more of it.

~Talos Angel~

CHAPTER SIX: SETTING THE WORLD ON FIRE (as if this fic wasn't more Fallout than HDN enough, lol.)

-The mutant camp was an absolute mess; huts near the scene of the carnage were riddled with spears and bolts as if they were pincussions, with a trail of sloppy, sandy footprints leading over the dune to the now empty parking lot. A few mutated women and children stumbled about the open areas of the village, muttering and whispering amongst each other at the aftermath ofthe noisy spectacle that had just ensued. At the top of the hill, Kazaa emerged from his hut, boot print embedded firmly upon his face as he stared out across the village. He roared an echoing, dirgeish noise across the desert landscape as he kicked a small mound of sand next to his hut.

"Damn Linda!" Kazaa screeched, "Take my food! Thief Linda!" Lime followed shortly behind Kazaa, clenching her vicious neck wound as she winced with at least half of her eyes. She spotted a three armed, three eyed woman clad in rags staring idly at the central kitchen of the village, fiddling with the pots and pans that lay about. Lime sprinted over to the woman, and grabbed her shoulder like a hawk grabbing a mouse.

"You!" Lime sneered, "Cook food! Now!" The woman gasped in bewilderment as she stumbled backwards into a pile of pots. Lime snarled as she ripped a skinned arm hanging from the rack, and picked up a frying pan that was much too small for it. She huffed with frustration as she threw the objects at the three armed woman, hitting her square in the solar plexus with both. Kazaa stumbled down the hill towards the kitchen, his scowl apparent as he limped with a powerful uneasiness.

"Hungry." Kazaa growled menacingly, "Need eat. Now."

"This woman cook." Lime said as she gestured towards the mutant woman who was struggling to her feet, "No worry." Kazaa stomped his foot as he snorted.

"NOW." Kazaa hissed. Lime's face faltered as she looked about nervously, Kazaa practically breathing down her neck.

"Now now," A deep, yet effeminite voice called from behind Kazaa, "Didn't Arfoire teach you that patience is necessary to get the job done?" Kazaa frowned as he squinted his eyes. He turned around and saw the unmistakable image of CFW Magic floating before him, her HDD spikey wings protruding out to her sides asif she were a fallen angel come to judge them.

"Go away." Kazaa snarled, "Not in mood for you shit." Magic tilted her head to the side as she placed her hands upon her hips.

"Is that any way to greet the CPU candidate of your country?" Magic asked, a mocking coo in her voice. Kazaa huffed as he shook his head as Lime stepped to his side with a defiant scowl.

"Fucking leave." Lime barked, "Not CPU of THIS country. Kazaa greater than all CPUs."

"Of course he is," Magic said with slight annoyance, "And I will leave after you answer a question or two." Kazaa scowled as he stepped towards CFW Magic with a loud THUMP in his step.

"Ask, then leave." Kazaa muttered, "Me hungry, and want to eat." Magic smiled a sinister grin as she clasped her hands together.

"That's wonderful," Magic said softly, "Now answer me this; Have you seen our dear friend Linda with two adorable, young girls in tow?" Kazaa growled as he punched a nearby pile of pans, toppling them over as Lime stepped backwards.

"Fuck Linda!" Kazaa squealed, "Bitch stole my food! Eat girls, but ran away! Raider boys get her, though...They get her and bring her riiight back..."

"Oh?" Magic asked quisically, "Did they bring her back already?"

"They will." Lime growled defiantly, "Then we kill bitch and eat her." Magic's face furled into a frown as she shook her head.

"I see." Magic sighed, "Then there really is no reason for me to be here, is there?"

"What you planning?" Kazaa growled. CFW Magic wordlessly floated straight up into the air, becoming a tiny dot in the sky in a matter of seconds.

"What are you planning?!" Kazaa screamed to the heavens. Magic, who had barely heard the enraged cry, smirked as she looked down upon the village. She slowly pulled out a small, sleek phone, and placed it against her head.

"Alright, Judge," She said quietly over the phone, "Our girls aren't there at all. No reason to not burn the place down."

"My thoughts exactly." Judge's insane, sinister voice heaved over the phone. He hung up without a word, then emerged into the village from over a large dune. The mutants screamedand fell backwards at the sight of the massive, floating, robotic man who held a large, pipe organ looking corroded green cannon, it's pipes pointing all around the village as if each one were a separate, sentient being.

"So I heard you were hungry, boy," CFW Judge screamed out in his booming, crazy voice, staring Kazaa right in his eyes, "Well, I've got the perfect dish for ya; stir fried death!" Pods flew out of the pipelike device all over the village, bursting into flames and shrapnel that burned and sliced apart everyone and everything. Kazaa and Lime joined the choir of screams that erupted from the absolute destructive hell that Judge had created, the scent of burned flesh and boiled blood tickling his sensory panels. He let out a merry laugh as he floated up to get a better vantage point of the helpless mutants below. They were screaming and scrambling about like panicking ants as their homes and bodies burned to ashes, appearing as wizzing red sparks upon the tan sandy ground.

"Trick, you're the best!" Judge laughed with merriment as he spun his pipe weapon around with glee, "This thing is amazing!" CFW Magic drifted downwards to CFW Judge, smirking as she bumped the enormous robot with her elbow.

"I'm glad you're having fun roasting these traitors," Magic chirped, "But we really should get going. Our real prey has escaped." Judge shrugged as he shook his head.

"I don't know," Judge sighed, "I feel kinda bad about shafting Trick after he got me this spankin new weapon."

"We're not going to kill them, idiot." Magic groaned, "We're just going to do a...better job of taking the girls back to him."

"That doesn't sound like fun at all." Judge protested, "I would rather stay here and kill more muties." Both of them looked down at the village. While it was still burning, nobody was moving or screaming anymore.

"Looks like that's not an option anymore." Magic said, a hint of disappointment in her voice, "So let's go after the kids now."

"Can't I just blow up another settlement with this thing?" Judge asked in a bit of a whiny tone, "Maybe bomb a train?" Magic shook her head with a frown.

"Blind destruction has its uses, Judge," Magic sighed, "But only at the right time. We are going after those kids." Magic looked down at the empty lot for the buggies, and saw their tracks leading off into the distance. She nodded to Judge and gestured for him to follow. Judge grunted, but reluctantly followed behind.

"Oh, and this should be obvious," Magic sighed, "But don't let that boyscout CFW Brave know the...finer details of our victory here." Judge laughed as he nodded his head.

...

P.S: This and the next two chapters were supposed to be one chapter, but it was getting too long, so I split it up into three chapters.


	7. Chapter 7: The Cat Awakens

A.N: Next chapter was originally part of this one, but I'm splitting it. Also, it's not done yet.

CHAPTER SEVEN: THE CAT AWAKENS...

Blanc stood upon the podium in the center of the city, decked out in her nicest dress; it was a beautiful, frilly, yet warm and fluffy white dress that was perfect for Lowee's harsh winters. She glanced nervously to her sides...she was alone upon the fine marble stage that overlooked the biggest open space in the city, which was currently filled with not only Lowee's citizens, but excited tourists from other countries as well. Her heart sank when she saw Noire and Vert, subtle and human, standing casually among the humans, furries, and sentient robots who were normal residents of this world. All of their eyes gazed upon her...watching...expectant...

Blanc glanced to her sides and behind herself again...nobody was there...save for the massive evergreen tree that had been planted there. It was decorated with a rainbow swath of lights, and small dolls of some of Lowee's more famous residents, topped off with a large, shining star.

"Where are those two?" Blanc whispered to herself. She looked back at the crowd, who were shuffling and mumbling among each other. Blanc sighed as she walked towards the microphone, and tapped it. It made a loud tapping noise that echoed across the plaza, drawing any attention that was not directed towards her...well...towards her. She moved her mouth a fair distance to the microphone.

"Excuse me, everybody." Blanc said to the crowd, "I know you're all eager to hear me speak about this year and its events and whatnot...but we're having some problems right now. Please excuse me...I'll be back shortly." The crowd spoke up a bit, their vices incomprehensible as their words drowned each other, but Blanc stepped away from the microphone and walked to the back of the stage, opened the red door leading to the red building behind it, and she stepped inside.

The building was a dusty, rustic prop room for stage plays intended for the plaza stage; all sorts of flat cardboard pieces of scenery were leaned against the walls, with ladders leaning against them. The dusty, grey floor was littered with empty paint cans, sandbags, and paint brushes, all placed around black chords that just coiled around with seemingly no direction whatsoever. Several Lowee guards, clad in their typical red attire, were moping about the place, but their heads jolted up when Blanc entered.

"Lady Blanc," One of the guards asked, "Is there something wrong?" Blanc sighed as she leaned her left hand against the wall.

"Rom and Ram are supposed to be here by now," Blanc said, "Do you or any of the guards have any idea where they are?" The guard shook her head.

"Mina and the others haven't reported anything back yet," The guard reported, "It seems they're getting better and better at hiding." The guard smirkedasshe leaned towards Blanc, but Blanc shook her head.

"I don't find that very funny," Blanc huffed, "I...I'm not sure we can even start without them."

"Didn't Mina tell you to start without them if needed?" The guard asked back. Blanc swallowed air as she looked around.

"Look, I..." Blanc replied, "I'm starting to get nervous." Another door at the far end of the building swung open, causing Blanc to jump and all of the guards to snap their heads in the direction of the door. Nepgear, that familiar purple-haired goddess, stumbled into the room with her older sister in tow. Blanc raides her left eyebrow as the Planeptune sisters stumbled before her.

"What are you two doing here?" Blanc asked, "You should know that this area is offlimits to the public."

"Oh, hi, Blanc!" The smaller, yet older sister Neptune squealed in her normally cheerful tone, "We just noticed that you were having a bit of trouble up on the stage. So...what's wrong? Stage fright? Left the oven on?"

"My sisters are supposed o be here, but they are not." Blanc said in an annoyedtone as she turned towards Nepgear, "Nepgear...you're one of Rom's close friends, right?"

"Well...yeah, I suppose," Nepgear replied softly, "But...they should be somewhere in the city, right? Both of those twins love playing around, you know."

"The guards can't find them anywhere," Blanc said as she shook her head, "Nepgear...do you know where they might try to hide."

"Goodness, I thought you would know," Nepgear replied, "You're their older sister after all." Blanc looked to the ground, emitting what sounded like a stressed moan as her eyes squinted a bit.

"Aww cheer up Blanc," Neptune cooed as she placed her right hand on Blanc's left shoulder, "Whenever I goof off, Histy or Iffy usually bust me in an hour or so."

"Rom and Ram are not you, Neptune," Blanc replied, "Besides, Histoire and IF do not live here."

"But they're visiting," Nepgear pointed out, "They're your friends, too." A loud, blaring beep came from Blanc's dress, shaking her into a completely straight posture. She looked down, and reached for her phone. She picked up the small, practical, white phone and placed it against her ear.

"Hello?" Blanc said quickly, "Who is this?"

"This is Mina," Mina's voice came out louder than Blanc expected...and it sounded frantic, "I have really bad news...I believe your sisters have been kidnapped!" Blanc's pupils shrank as a choir of gasps erupted from around her.

"Wh...WHAT?!" Blanc shouted over the phone.

"I believe somebody...possibly associated with ASIC abducted them last night while we were asleep," Mina panted, "They also may have taken a train out of Lowee." Blanc's eyes began to water up as she struggled to maintain something resembling composure.

"Wh...where did they head?" Blanc hesitantly asked, "Did they leave for Planeptune?"

"According to what I could gather at the train station, no." Mina replied, "They went Southeast towards Lastation instead." Blanc shut her eyes and sighed with a mild form of relief.

"There's a problem, however," Mina said, her voice faltering, "That train SHOULD have arrived in Lastation hours ago...but the conductor and crew have not reported to anybody since they left." Blanc's eyes widened once more as her mouth fell agape.

"Do...do you think...?" Blanc asked with a trembling voice.

"There is a well known tribe of mutated human bandits located somewhere in the desert between here and Lastation," Mina said somberly, "It is possible that they have attacked the train your sisters were on..."

"Shit!" Blanc cried out loudly as she dropped her phone. She trembled in place for almost an entire second before her worried grimace twisted into a scowl. Her body erupted into a flash of light as she turned into CPU White Heart, her short, messy hair flaring with rage as her crimson eyes flashed towards Nepgear and Neptune. Shepushed her way through the two siblings as she went for the door.

"I'm going after them." Blanc loudly growled, "Guards...tell the crowd that there will be no speech today due to an unforseen...whatever!"

"Wait!" Nepgear cried out as she reached for Blanc's left arm, "I'd better go with you. They're my friends, you know."

"And me three." Neptune spoke up, "Because I go where Nep jr goes." Blanc huffed as she looked at them.

"None of you need to come," Blanc argued with a sigh, "They're MY sisters. They're gone because I wasn't vigilant enough...and I'M going to get them back."

"Please, Blanc," Nepgear insisted, "We don't know what we're up against out there. What if ASIC is planning to use them as bait?"

"Besides, we're your friends, Blanc," Neptune added cheerfully, "Your pain is our pain. Your burdens are our burdens..."

"Okay, fine." Blanc snapped, her tone low and growling, "But don't get in the way and don't fall behind. Guards...you already know what to do." The guards stood straight up, and saluted Blanc with stoic faces and stiff hands. Blanc nodded as she kicked the exit door open, and stormed out.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Nepgear squealed as she followed behind. Neptune trailed shortly behind her as the door closed behind the three goddesses. The guards collectively sighed as they shot worried glances. The streets of Lowee behind that building were shockingly sparse...the people were likely gathered in the plaza instead, as evident by the empty, lockedup shop stands that lined the streets in front of the colorful buildings.

"Blanc, this is just a suggestion," Neptune said as she caught up with the fiery hearted goddess, "But maybe we should get Vert, Noire, and Uni to help us as well." Blanc shook her head.

"We don't have time for that," Blanc argued, "We need to get my sisters back ASAP. Trying to deal with the crowds and talk them into helping us will give the kidnapper more time to get farther away."

"Goodness, we should at least call them," Nepgear said, "You know...tell them to look out for anything suspicious." Blanc launched herself into the air with a powerful jump, then she turned towrds Nepgear with a grunt.

"YOU can do that," Blanc said, "Then I want you to transform your ass and catch up with me. I'm headed for the train staion, and I'll follow the railroad to Lastation." Blanc did not even wait for a response before she dashed off through the air, blowing powdered snow into the air like a dust storm as she flew away.


	8. Chapter 8: Borderlands

A.N: Thanks for your review Guest! I'm glad to hear that my fanfic is fresh to you. Honestly, regarding the whole gary stu harem nonsense, I think that's because of the nature of the series itself (it happens a lot in Touhou, and from what I've heard, MLP fics too,) which is really unfortunate because the series are supposed to be about the MC girls and their friends, and not make them satellite love interests to some dummy nobody cares about. Maybe if we keep writing different stories than that, it will change.

Also, I'm sorry if some parts seem a bit lacking in detail. I keep getting paranoid that my story's pace is too slow, and I need to hurry things along. I'll try to be more detailed when I can.

Also, I didn't feel like splitting this chapter up, so enjoy an extra long chapter, please.

CHAPTER EIGHT: BORDERLANDS

-Warechu hissed as he turned his head downwards, narrowly avoiding a shining, metal bolt that whizzed past his head, and lodged itself firmly into the rust-caked frame of the buggy. Rom and Ram ducked down below the seats with Bit and Torrent , since the back seats had been turned into figurative pink pincushions from the arrows and spears that were poking through them. Linda was clenching her teeth as she swung the steering wheel frantically.

"Geez!" Warechu shouted, "Are you trying to make us nauseous before we all die?!"

"No!" Linda shouted back over the noise, "I'm trying to get us NOT killed!" A loud metal CLANG erupted from behind Linda, followed by Warechu squeaking loudly as another bolt hit the car, nicking Warechu's ear and causing it to bleed like a smashed ketchup package.

"Well do it better!" Warechu pleaded as he reached for his ear. He almost tumbled right off of the buggy as a hail of bolts rained onto the car, emitting a terrible choir of metal clangs as Rom screamed and threw herself into Ram's arms. She cried as she shifted uncomfortably in place, sobbing like a sad wreck as Ram pouted her cheeks, wincing from her wound's pain.

"Stupid mutant bullies." Ram growled, "If I had a magic staff, I'd kick their butts." Torrent sighed as Bit looked sadly...almost longingly at their mutant bandit pursuers. Rom frowned at them as she sniveled. Linda jerked the steering wheel to the right, causing everybody to shriek as they tumbled nearly out of the car. The sand where the car would have gone burst into the air with a loud KABOOM, erupting and bursting around like a volcano that was blasting out tan soot, spraying the heated mixture of sediments about in an angry cloud.

"Cripes!" Warechu squealed, "Now they're using fuckin' explosives!"

"Great observation skills there, first mate." Linda growled as she swerved the car wildly around a small dune in front of them. Rom flinched as she was swung towards the edge of the car, almost knocking Bit and Torrent out as they dug their mutated fingernails into the red leather seats of the car. Rom's eyes shot wide open when she saw a thin, yet muscular grey mutant with bulging yellow eyes that had red sclera. He rode upon a rusty red motorcycle that was jagged and cut on the sides to look like knife-sharp flames were erupting from it, with spikes on the back that were adorned with human skulls. Torrent's eyes shot wide open as the mutant cackled, and pulled a sharp, rusty, long sickle from behind himself; it's blade reddened from a combination of oxidation and blood, yet was still sharp enough to cut atoms and sturdy enough to survive the apocalypse. The mutant rider grinned, showing his sharp, pointy yellow teeth, s he raised the sickle high into the air.

WHACK!

Ram through a small rock at the mutant, causing him to drop his sickle into the rough desert sand, allowing it to collide with the front tire of the motorbike.

POP!

The tire burst open like a balloon making contact with a porcupine's quills. The mutant rider screeched like a frightened owl as he flipped over the handlebars, himself and his bike tumbling like weeds on speed as they kicked up a dust storm.

"Serves you right!" Ram yelled behind the car, sticking her tongue at the fallen, yet miraculously living mutant as he twitched erratically upon the tan, sandy ground. More mutants on motorcycles began to close in on the car, their riders pulling out all manners of sharp, dangerous poles, knives, and utensils as they screamed with fury, their bikes leaving angry trails of sparkling dust behind them. Linda swerved as another eruption of sand went off just a meter away from the car, blowing sand and ash at the somehow unfazed mutant riders. Linda glanced down at her steering wheel, the corroded fuel gauge catching her eye. it was a simple gauge of the amount of fuel left in the car, with a small red needle pointing to "F" for full, and "E" for empty.

It was pointing very, very close to the "E."

"No good," Linda hissed, "If we run out of fuel now..."

"Now we're running out of fuel?!" Warechu screamed as he fell onto the back seat of the buggy, dodging a javelin that lodged itself into the frame where his heart had been moments earlier.

"No, We're magically gaining more of it." Linda barked as she rolled her eyes.

"No need to be so pissy, geez." Warechu barked back.

"Well, YOU try driving a rickety piece of junk with no fuel past explosions." Linda snapped back "Then maybe you'll understand." Rom, Ram, Bit, and Torrent's eyes widened as they all looked in front of the buggy, Rom's lip trembling a bit.

"M...Miss Linda..." Rom whimpered.

"What?" Linda hissed as she swerved the car out of the way of a barrage of razor sharp spears.

"Cliff!" Ram yelled with panic as she pointed ahead. Linda snapped her head back to the front of the car, and her heart nearly stopped. Before them was a strange, very deep fjord that bordered a rather green, foliage-rich plateau, shaded by many thick trunked trees with branches and large leaves that jutted out like an umbrella, all swaying in the gentle wind current on the other side. The gorge itself was deep enough to fill with all of the junk in the Gamindustri Graveyard, and still not completely fill it, with a raging, rapid river cutting towards the sea at the very bottom of it, leaving a deep, "V" shaped crevice lined with jagged, brown sandstone on the desert side, and even more jagged and craggily sparkly granite on the forest's side, as if the river divided the entire universe in half.

"Well shit." Linda muttered under her breath. She looked back and forth across what little desert there was left in front of the car, wincing as another burst of sand exploded from the ground. That was when she saw it; a sand dune, perfectly sloped like a ramp leading towards the forest side of the impossibly deep canyon, it's quartz grains glistening in the sun and wind like a sandstone savior sent to bring deliverance upon the world. Linda smirked as she turned towards the dune, preparing her foot upon the car's gas pedal as she focused.

"Everybody," Linda sighed, "If we don't make it out of this one alive...then I want you to know that I'm really sorry for killing all of you." Everybody else's eyes went wide.

"What do you-" Warechu began to say, but he looked in front of the car, and saw as Linda began to floor the gas pedal, rocketing the car up the dune at speeds unimagined.

"Oh fuck no!" Warechu squealed as he fell into Ram's lap, "Nononononononononononononooo!" Ram and Rom threw their arms around each other, while Bit and Torrent shut their eyes, cupped their hands over their eyes, and whimpered. The edge of the dune approached at breathtaking speeds, filling everybody's ears with the whooshing of the air as it looked like they were about to launch off into space.

"My only regret," Warechu cried softly, "Was not being good enough for my dear angel Compa." The Car rocketed over the top of the dune, roaring through the air like an angry dragon chasing a troublesome bird as it spewed it's last bits of black, smoky burned gas behind itself. Rom screeched like a frightened bird as Ram threw her hands over Rom's eyes, her own eyes wide and shaky as she whimpered. Bit and Torrent continued to cover their eyes as they cried loudly, like a pair of babies on a noisy airplane...that was about to crash into a tree. As Linda looked around...she smiled for what felt like the world's longest second; She felt the powerful, but gentle wind brush against her entire body like a silky soft lover's embrace as she stared to her left. She saw the vast ocean beyond the crevice she was over, in all of its vastness and blueness, shimmering with white specks like the tears of a beautiful woman frozen in time, overshadowed by fluffy, comfy white clouds scattered about that looked like one might love sleeping on one. Linda inhaled deeply as she turned her head back towards the front of the car.

Her smile faded when she saw that they were falling towards the grassy ground at a far faster velocity than she thought.

"Oh-" Linda began to mutter, but the car collided with the ground before she could finish. loud crashes, shatters, and crumbles exploded with noise around Linda as the car flipped and tumbled forwards like a domino that was dropped onto the concrete. Pain pulsed through her body as the screams and cries of the other passengers burst out from all around her. Up, down, left, and right all blended together into a visceral whirlpool of pain and chaos that showed the poor girls and mouse no mercy. Linda clenched her teeth as the car flipped one final time, crashing down upon its axels since the tires had long since parted with the doomed, broken machine.

Linda heaved and huffed with all of her lungs' might as she slowly looked around. The car was utterly totaled, with its frame fragmented with tiny bits of it still dangling in places...crooked as a zigzag line all over. The front of the car was compressed against a large, umbrella-like tree's massive, bumpy, wooden trunk, smoking and sizzling like Blanc after Vert mentions chests. She quickly flipped completely around to look at her passengers. The seats of the car were empty save for a few bolts, arrows, and spears that got impaled through them.

"Oh fuck." Linda whispered as she tried to catch her breath, "Fuck...please don't be dead." She crawled out from the car's driver seat, limping and coughing as she clutched her rib cage.

"Fuck...Hurts..." Linda wheezed as she stumbled awkwardly away from the twisted, crushed tin can-like car wreck she was responsible for. After wincing her eyes and shaking her head slowly, she tilted her head up, and squinted as she looked around the knee high grass that was surrounding her. She could hear a lot of shouting, howling, and high pitched screeching far off to her left. She turned her head to the sight of the other side of the canyon...the desolate, dune-dominated wasteland that she...and hopefully her passengers...had left behind.

The dusty, tan plateau's edge was covered by a massive line of rusty, dusty cars and motorbikes that the mutants had ridden over to the area. Several jagged pieces of rusty, poorly-painted metal dangling from the jagged bits of rock on the cliff suggested that several mutants had tried to follow them across...and failed. The mutants, all of whom looked like tiny blotches from the other side of the gorge, were screeching, jumping, and thrashing furiously as they leapt out of their junky vehicles and threw spears and bolts into the ravine; a vain final effort. Linda smirked at the sight of the angry mutants as they danced and stomped about wildly, tossing more sharp metal objects into the ravine than Linda thought she would ever see.

"Fuckers..." Linda chortled quietly to herself. She coughed harshly and fell to her knees as the pain in her stomach and ribs flared up, as if she had been kicked in them again. She hissed and heaved under the noise of the howling, angry, disappointed mutants that were far from harm, but close enough to be a nuisance. She looked away from the mutants back towards the grass, scanning it carefully as a shiver went down her spine.

"Warechu?" Linda weakly called out, "Rom? Ram? Bit? Torrent? Anybody?" Linda stumbled about the grass, clenching her ribcage and struggling to stay on her feet as she swayed from side to side. Her pace became more frantic and rapid as she breathed rapidly and deeply, like a bull that had just outrun a speeding car. Her eyes became foggy and moist with tears as she saw no trace of her friend or hostages anywhere.

"Please..." Linda sniffled out as she stumbled towards the cliff, "Please don't tell me that you all fell into the cliff." Linda awkwardly limped over to the cliff, and got down on her knees as she clutched her hands over her heart. She slowly peeked over the edge of the cliff. It was the same world-splitting crevice she had jumped over for sure, but now she could make out tiny, splattered, burning dots near the river, upon the rocks, as if a few ants had fallen from too great of a height and had been smashed apart. None of the dots moved...nobody down there survived. Linda swallowed a massive gulp of air as she heaved her tears back.

"No..." Linda whimpered, "Trick's gonna kill me if you're all dead..."

"BOO!" A loud, high pitched voice cried out from behind Linda. Linda squeaked like a terrified kangaroo mouse as she flipped over onto her back. Ram, smiling like the scamp she was, crashed on top of Linda, giggling as she slapped her hands off to the side. Linda screamed in agony as Rom collided with her ribs, her pent up tears finally flying loose like arrows, sparkling like beautiful ice crystals for the brief moments they were airborne.

"Gotcha!" Ram chirped, "You really didn't see me coming, did ya?"

"Oh gods, my fucking ribs!" Linda cried pitifully as she clenched her hands. Ram frowned, and slapped Linda across her face.

"Hey!" Ram shouted, "I thought I said NO bad words!"

"Ram, stop!" Rom cried out as she ran over to the pair, "It's really mean to hurt Miss Linda like that."

"But she said a bad word." Ram protested as she stepped off of The squirming, crying pale elf girl, "Besides, she almost got us all killed in that car crash!"

"But...we're all okay," Rom argued back as she turned her head away for a second, "Right, guys?"

"My ear hurts like nothing else," Warechu grumbled as he stepped forwards, gripping his nicked ear with his right hand, "But I guess that's better than bein' dead, chu."

"Why Linda cry?" Bit asked as she and her sister walked shortly behind Warechu, "We all okay!"

"Maybe she hungry?" Torrent inquired as she scratched her bumpy little chin, "It not work. We have no food." Linda hissed as she slowly rose to her feet, clutching her ribs...with an enormous grin as a few extra tears fell off of her cheeks.

"You...you guys are alive!" Linda sputtered, "I...We're saved! We're really, really saved!" Linda winced as she threw her arms around Ram, cringing with pain as she did so. Ram's eyes shot wide open, and she flailed her arms as Linda embraced her like a momma bear protecting her cub, squeezing poor little Ram, and her own poor little ribcage.

"Aw geez, lady." Ram cried out, "What is with you?!" Rom smiled as she approached her sister and kidnapper.

"Miss Linda is just really happy to see us." Rom said quietly, "She must have been very worried."

"Of course I was worried!" Linda wailed loudly as she released Rom, "If anything had happened to you...then...your sister...would ki-...be sad for the rest of her life."

"We're trying to make that broad feel bad enough to pay more attention to you," Warechu chimed in as he stepped forward, "Not make you dead and her suicidal."

"I know that," Ram insisted, "But next time, could you try to keep us from getting killed a little better?"

"Aren't you CPUs?" Bit asked, "Why need Linda help?" Rom frowned as she turned to the conjoined mutant twins.

"We don't have our staves, so we can't use our magic," Rom explained, "And besides...HDD makes us really tired, so we can't use it for very long." Bit and Torrent both frowned at this statement.

"So...no more fast?" Torrent asked as she gestured towards the burning, smoking, crumpled wreck of a car they had once rode. Linda shook her head.

"Even if that thing wasn't turned into scrap metal," Linda said, "It ran out of gas when we jumped over to this side, so we're gonna have to hoof it the rest of the way to Lastation." Everybody sighed as they slumped their shoulders.

"Well, at least the muties won't chase us anymore," Warechu said as he pointed to the other side of the gorge. The furious mutants had begun to give up as they began to re-enter their vehicles and drive off into the distance. Linda frowned as she looked towards the moist-eyed mutant twins, who stared at the retreating mutants with the longingness of a dog waiting for their owner.

"Sorry, kids," Linda sighed, "Maybe you can catch a train back from Lastation or something?" Both mutant girls shook their heads.

"We help you flee," Bit sighed.

"Tribe hate us now," Torrent added, "Can't go back. Ever." Rom and Ram seemed teary-eyed for a second, before Ram grinned and patted the mutant twins on their back.

"That's okay!" Ram chirped brightly, "You two can come with us! We can be friends!"

"Woah, wait! Hold on!" Warechu spoke up as he turned to the little girls, "Who said that-"

"Yeah!" Rom agreed, ignoring Warechu as she moved to Bit and Torrent's other shoulder, "Blanc and Mina said we should have more friends and play with more people, anyway." Bit and Torrent both smiled through their tears as they each looked into the Lowee twins' eyes.

"Friends?" Bit asked as she began to smile. Rom and Ram both grinned widely as they hugged Bit and Torrent tightly, as if trying to squeeze the air out of a big bag.

"Yes!" Ram squeaked like an excited little girl on Christmas morning, "You can be our friends!" All four of the girls squealed happily as they hugged and squirmed around, giggling happily as they shed a few tears of joy. Warechu sighed and shook his head.

"Great," Warechu sighed, "More fuckin' screaming kids following us around."

"Well, it'll keep the twins busy," Linda sighed with a slight smirk, "And besides, we can probably drop them off in Lastation."

"Or take them to CFW Trick," Warechu chuckled, "I bet he'd be totally into them. Shit, he'd probably pay us extra." Linda sighed as a cold shiver shot through her spine.

"Maybe he would." Linda whispered, "But...fuck that guy."

...


	9. Chapter 9: BelovedTomboyishOlderSister

AN: Sorry this was published so late, but things happen, you know? Anyway, this one turned out pretty long, too.

AN2: If the title looks squished, it's because it would not fit in the chapter title.

CHAPTER NINE: BELOVED TOMBOYISH OLDER SISTER

-Blanc...now Lady White Heart to most...had been blasting her way through the air along the railroad tracks leading to Lastation. The blowing desert winds and sands flew around her in an aerodynamic flurry of different quartzes, as if Blanc were drilling a hole through the air itself. She wore a stoic frown as she blazed through the air, seemingly unbothered by the stinging sand grains flailing towards her as she tore her way down the thick, curved railroad tracks at the edge of the rocky, jagged red cliff face next to the tall, volatile dunes. Behind her, however, were the CPUs of Planeptune, Nepgear and Neptune...now Purple Sister and Purple Heart. Purple Heart frowned stoically, like Blanc, but her face was a bit more relaxed. Purple Sister winced as she held her left arm in front of her in order to block the stinging sand grains.

"Goodness, Blanc," Nepgear gasped as she flew forward, "How are you able to stay in HDD for this long? I'm already feeling a bit tired." Blanc continued to fly forward, not responding to the question.

"She's just worried about her sisters," Purple Heart replied in Blanc's stead, "Tiredness means nothing when your family is on the line. I thought you had experienced that before?" Nepgear frowned as she looked down at the waving, rocky railroad that trailed and winded against the side of the red, rocky cliff.

"Well...Yes...Neptune," Nepgear said quietly, "But...I was never...THIS strong." Purple Heart smiled as she flew closer to Nepgear, almost touching shoulders with her as she grinned at her sister.

"You still pulled through for me," Purple Heart pointed out, "You, the shy girl who had never even swung any of the swords you had made..." Nepgear blushed as she looked away from Purple Heart, sighing while shaking her head.

"I...I just did what was necessary," Nepgear stuttered, "You'd do the same for me, right Neptune?" Purple Heart smiled brightly as she playfully ran her right hand through Nepgear's hair, as if she were petting a puppy.

"Exactly," Purple Heart replied, "That's what Blanc is doing right now...exactly what she needs to." Blanc began to slow down, wincing as the grains started to actually hit her soft, yet tough face. Nepgear sighed as she and Purple Heart followed suit, slowing down while staying behind Blanc before they had all come to a complete stop. Blanc pointed downwards, towards a trail of glowing, neon red lights in the mess of flying sandy grains.

"There it is," Blanc gasped, "The train that supposedly left with my sisters." The train, by now, had all of its car doors ripped wide open, as if some beast that hated doors had attacked the train while it had been broken down. There were crates and scattered piles of sporting equipment, broken disks and Lowee hardware dotting around like they had been shot out of a cannon all at once...somehow in a curved direction. The junk was surrounded by footprints...perhaps hundreds...perhaps thousands...but all of which followed the junk piles off on their path away from the train. Although the footprints were rather faded from the sandstorm's fury, they all seemed to be...irregularly shaped. Some had sharp claws, other were blunt stumps...heck, many didn't even match the left and right foot's appearance. They lead off into the heart of the desert, winding and twisting between massive dunes and rock piles as if it were a once raging, but now utterly dead river.

Blanc briefly glanced back towards Nepgear and Purple Heart, pointing in the direction of the manmade debris flow.

"C'mon!" Blanc shouted urgently, "My sisters..." She clenched her eyes shut as she blasted through the air, sending sand particles blasting outwards in every direction, and forcing Planeptune's goddesses to shield their eyes with their forearms. Once the whipping, stinging grains had died down, Nepgear and Purple Heart burst off after the streaking white goddess, her form now barely visible within their sights.

"This doesn't look good..." Nepgear muttered as she looked down at the carelessly discarded goods in the sand, "I can't imagine whoever did this would be gentle with the twins..."

"Then we better get there quickly," Purple Heart huffed as she burst on ahead, waving to Nepgear to follow. Nepgear blinked extra hard as she tilted her head forward, and flew after the other two goddesses, her bright purple hair flailing behind her like an octopus riding on the outside of a jet. Purple Heart and Nepgear stopped after Blanc's image grew in their eyes, her whole body stopped, and her head tilted down towards the sight before them. Blanc quivered in the air as her arms tensed up, her fists clenching around her massive, ivory and sapphire colored axe before her.

"What...the...Hell?" Purple Heart whispered to herself. Nepgear whimpered slightly as she drifted over to her older sister, gently laying her hands around her waist as she stared into the charred, smoking oblivion that lay before them.

The entire area, which had once been the not-so-thriving mutant bandit village, was now a charnel house that had been sent through a creamatorium. a thick, caking layer of pitch black ash had been spread over everything, from the now leveled huts to the charred, crumbling skeletal limbs that stuck out from the ash piles, as if reaching for help that will now never come. a cloud of black ash flew forth from the ruins with the wind, brushing and roughly caressing the scarred desert landscape, leaving behind black sprinkles in a long, dark trail. Aside from the charred skeletons, there seemed to be no evidence of life anywhere anymore.

"Gods..." Blanc choked out quietly, her voice breaking. She rapidly looked around the macabre scene, scanning everything she could see for less than a second. Her whole body quivered and shook as her hands tensed up. A small whimper escaped her lips as her eyes began to moisten.

"Rom! Ram!" Blanc screamed in a desperate, booming voice that felt like it shook the Earth, "Please! Where are you?!" Blanc shot straight for the ground, scattering black ash around with a loud BOOM! She tilted her head around frantically, clenching her teeth and fighting off her tears.

"Rom! Ram!" Blanc shouted again, "Please...It's me...your sister Blanc!" Nepgear and Purple Heart glanced at each other, and nodded at each other. They flew to two separate ends of the ruins, and began to look over every bump and cranny of the devastation.

"Rom! Ram!" Nepgear called out, "It's okay...we're here for you."

"Rom! Ram!" Purple Heart shouted, "Your sister is worried about you."

Blanc stumbled towards the center of the town, towards the amazingly still slightly intact, but highly burnt kitchen structure, its pots and skillets now filled with ashes instead of meat. She leaned against the structure, and stared at the ground, letting several tears drip from her eyes into the ashes.

"Rom...Ram..." Blanc sobbed, "I'm sorry...I'm very...very...sorry..." As she slumped to the ground, Blanc saw something in one of the pots laying sideways in the ashen dust. She reached for the pot, her eyes hazy and her heart thumping like a piston. In one swift motion, she grabbed the object and brought it to her.

It squished and sprayed a dark red liquid when she grabbed it. Her eyes widened as her jaw dropped.

It was a severed human arm. A bloody, mangled, mostly raw human arm.

"No..." Blanc whispered, "They didn't...They FUCKING didn't!" Blanc shot up, and started kicking over and sifting through the cookery, causing a cacophonous choir of clattering as the pots, pans, and skillets. Arms, legs, hands...all sorts of mangled, fresh, bloody limbs flew forth from the cookery, painted dark, lifeless red splatters on top of the dusty black ash. Many of the crimson, amazingly raw and bloody limbs were bound together with crumbly, rusty barbed wire, jabbed through each limb at the top and bottom...these clearly did not belong to the mutants.

"Oh gods...no..." Blanc cried, her tears flowing forth like a heavy monsoon rain, "No...No! NO! NO! NOOOOOOO!" Blanc crashed upon the ground, pounding it with her right fist as she screeched a high pitched, angry yet sorrowful howl like an injured wolf. She clenched her eyes shut as she bawled her eyes and heart out upon the charred, glassy sand beneath her. Purple heart rushed over, kicking up a cloud of ash that seemingly scattered into nothing. She stopped when she saw the severed, bloody limbs, and turned ever so slightly green as she flinched. Purple heart stepped closer to the bloody mess, then knelt down and pointed at the scattered, bloody gibs.

"Blanc, these are adult limbs," Purple Heart said, swallowing nervously, "None of these are from your sisters."

"How the fuck do you know they didn't already eat them?!" Blanc snapped as she glared at Purple Heart, "There's no way their limbs would be here if they were eaten!"

"Please, let's not jump to the worst assumption," Purple Heart replied as she raised her hands defensively, "Let's just focus on finding your sisters."

"Or...whatever's left of them." Blanc sobbed as she pitifully crawled towards the pots and pans, her eyes red and soaked completely through. Purple Heart knelt down and placed her right hand on Blanc's shoulder.

"Blanc, they're still alive." Purple Heart cooed, "They're both tough little cookies who fight monsters all the time. A village of mutants couldn't kill them." Blanc paused, and slowly turned to Purple Heart. She huffed and sniffled as she looked into the tall, womanly purple goddess' beautiful amethyst eyes, her warm, reassuring smile beaming with a warmth that could keep everyone alive through an Antarctic winter. Blanc said nothing as she crawled towards Purple Heart, and extended her arms towards her. Purple Heart took Blanc into her arms, embracing her softly as she carefully directed Blanc's head below her chest. The two embraced as Blanc quietly sobbed into Purple Heart's stomach, shivering as if she were dying from the cold.

"I...I can't believe I'm crying like a fucking baby," Blanc sobbed quietly, "I...I should be stronger than this. I should be stronger for Rom and Ram."

"Everybody cries at some point, Blanc," Purple Heart whispered, "It's just what we do when we're hurt. Even though we're goddesses, we are still humans at heart."

"Don't remind me." Blanc sniffed, "I cried even more back then. I...I thought earning my divinity would make me stronger than this."

"Just...take a minute." Purple Heart insisted, "You're clearly too upset to think straight right now." Blanc pushed herself away from Purple Heart, her eyes sizzling with defiant rage.

"Fuck that!" Blanc yelled, "Every second we don't spend getting closer to my sisters is every second their kidnapper can do...ugh!"

"Do we even know where they went?" Purple Heart asked, "or if they're still hiding around here somewhere?"

"Blanc! Sis!" Nepgear shouted as she came over a far, charred dune and looked down at them, "I found a survivor!" Blanc and Purple Heart turned their heads towards the dune as their eyes widened. Blanc darted off in the direction of Nepgear, kicking up a black cloud of ash around Purple Heart before she could even stand up. Purple Heart coughed and wheezed as she gave chase to the speedy, blurring ivory goddess, trying her best to keep ash particles out of her eyes.

"Rom?! Ram?!" Blanc shouted as she ascended the gentle, fragile slope of the smooth, scarred dune, kicking up a small sandstorm as she stopped at the apex. Nepgear frowned and shook her head.

"No, I haven't found either of them," Nepgear sighed, "But he thinks he knows where they are." Nepgear pointed down the hill towards the survivor; he was the train conductor who had been driving the train that was robbed. Ashes littered his gruff, hairy visage as he scuffled his way up the hill, coughing as he tried to wave the floating particles of deep charred remains away from his face.

"Goodness! Lady White Heart!" The conductor wheezed, "I didn't think I'd live long enough to ever see your adorable image ever again!" Blanc nodded.

"It's...good to know that at least you survived," Blanc said quietly as she stepped closer to the conductor, "But where are my sisters? Are they alive?"

"Oh, I saw your cute little twin sisters alive and well," The conductor wheezed, "They were fighting the big cheese in charge of this place, but they ran off towards their buggy vehicles with some elf-eared chick in a hooded sweatshirt with mouse ears." Nepgear's eyes widened as she faced the train conductor.

"Goodness...I think I know who you are talking about," Nepgear said, "I've run into her a whole bunch of times trying to save my sister. She worked for ASIC, and tried to kill me and my friends several times." Blanc's eyes widened as she pounded her fists together.

"I think I know who you were talking about," Blanc growled, "She tried to pull a stunt like this while I was still in a coma...AND she tried to destroy the whole damn city with an army of ancient robots! I should've known she'd be back!"

"And it's a good thing they fled the village when they did," The conductor gasped, "Right after they left, with half of the village chasing them, those...two...things came. Metallic angels of death, they were...they just insulted their leader and began to set everything on fire. Everybody screamed and died...I was lucky that I managed to get away in time to hide!" Blanc turned to the edge of the village, scowling as she clenched her fists. Purple Heart stopped just short of the group, panting for breath.

"If those bastards are trying to do what I think they're trying to do," Blanc growled, "Then they aren't, cause I'm going to kick their asses and get my sisters back. Safely. Unburnt."

"Goodness, what about this man?" Nepgear asked as she gestured to the conductor, "Are we really going to just leave him in the desert?"

"You can take him back." Blanc said.

"Actually, I think I should take him back," Purple Heart stated, "My sister would be more helpful, since she knows more about this kidnapper than I ever would." Nepgear blushed as she looked away.

"But...you're stronger, sis." Nepgear whispered as she placed a hand over her heart. The conductor shook his head.

"Don't worry about me, ladies," The man laughed, "I'm a strong train conductor who can take care of himself. I just need to get back to the train and see if I can cool it down, as it broke down from overheating. You gals just worry about saving your sisters."

"Are you sure?" Nepgear asked, but Blanc burst off in the direction of the buggy tracks that snaked deeper into the desert, appearing as a speck in the distance in mere seconds as the sands whirled and whipped around her.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Purple Heart shouted as she flew off after Blanc, vanishing into the distance like a torpedo through a cloud. Nepgear turned to the conductor, who just smiled and pointed in the direction of the speeding goddesses.

"What are you waiting for, lass?" The conductor asked. Nepgear hesitated, but nodded and dashed off after the other goddesses, bracing her arms over her eyes to protect herself from the artificial sandstorm.

...

CFW Magic and CFW Judge flew briskly across the windy, sunny desert, following the windy, wavy trail of tire tracks. The tracks were quickly disappearing as the wind whipped the sand around them, sending the grains flying all around in magnificent, rapid bursts.

"I'm BORED!" Judge shouted, "When do we kill something else now?!" Magic responded with a cold, unsympathizing glare that pierced Judge's restless, fiery soul. The roar of engines over the horizon, however, broke her concentration. The mutants who had failed to stop Linda were retreating back to their home...their spirits were broken, but they nevertheless sounded and looked like an angry hurricane of sand and smoke, swirling towards their devastated home in hope of some reprieve.

Magic smirked as she pointed to them.

"There, Judge," She whispered, "There is your stress relief."

...


	10. Chapter 10: Re-Spite

A.N: Sorry this took so long. A lot has been happening recently, and it was hard to find motivation to continue at times, but here it is. It seems like someone wants me to continue Kyubee's lament, even after three years of no updates, so I will probably try to update that next.

A.N.2: Thanks for the review, Harmless Orange! Sorry if I missed a "chu" or two...or twenty...but I don't think he ends EVERY sentence with it. I was honestly afraid that if I put it in too much, it would get annoying. I'll try not to overlook it from now on.

~Talos Angel~

CHAPTER TEN: RE-SPITE  
-Linda, Warechu, Rom, Ram, Bit, and Torrent had all been walking slowly, but peacefully through the bustling, umbrella-like tropical forest for a few hours. Aside from the occasional lone dogoo scavenging for rodents in their little burrows, or perhaps the occasional small flock of tropical penguins minding their own business, their only company aside from each other was the surprisingly cold wind that rustled and blew the treetops, making them flap and sway like loose fitting skirts upon brooms. Neither set of twins noticed the hours tick away as they chatted endlessly about art, toys, games...that sort of thing. Linda grinned slightly as she occasionally glanced over at them; a refreshing break from her heavy frown as she clasped her arms around her ribcage as she walked slower than usual. Warechu frowned as he looked at her.

"You okay, chu?" Warechu asked quietly, slowing his pace to match Linda's. She jumped slightly, as if spooked by a paper bag before she turned to Warechu.

"I think I broke a few ribs," Linda said quietly, "Hurts like a bitch...but it's nothing I can't just sleep off. That's how it works in these things, right?"

"Geez," Warechu sighed, "If life actually worked that way, what use would doctors and nurses be?"

"I guess you have a point there," Linda chuckled as she winced, "Still...we can't really afford to just loaf around in a lofty hospital bed, or we'll be in a morgue instead." Linda frowned as she stared down at the ground.

"Uhh...you SURE you're okay?" Warechu asked, "I don't remember you being this mopey, chu." Linda looked up, and pointed towards the pair of twins, still just as excited about their budding friendship as they were a few hours back.

"We're kidnapping those kids," Linda mumbled, "And they're treating it like they're on a camping trip. They're having such a nice time together...like a fun little adventure..."

"Kinda like us before...you know..." Warechu muttered, finishing the thought, "...but you know what we have to do, right, chu?"

"Yeah." Linda replied in a monotone voice, "THAT'S not gonna be a fun adventure for anybody...is it?"

"Well, we can go on a nice adventurous...vacation with the money we get from the job, right, chu?" Warechu asked snidely as he bumped Linda's shin with his elbow. Linda sighed as she looked away from Warechu, giggling.

"What? Isn't this already an exciting vacation?" Linda laughed, "The kids seem to think so." Warechu huffed as he shook his head. Linda leaned close to him.

"Just be glad you're not dressed like a little girl anymore, okay?" Linda whispered. Warechu grumbled as he rolled his eyes. Ram came skipping over, her smile bright and hopeful as it had been for a few hours.

"Hey, when are we gonna stop and eat?" Ram asked, "We're all kinda hungry." Linda looked up at the sky, the soft blue replaced with a radiant orange, streaking the fluffy white clouds with fluffs of pink.

"It is getting pretty late" Linda said, "I guess we can try to set up camp somewhere." She glanced over into the forest, noticing a large, jagged, gray rock protruding from the ground. There were several like it dotted throughout the forest, but this one stuck out from that point in the forest at that point in time. From that spot, a small cave could be seen, arching upwards into the higher area of the rock like a slide at a playground.

"Perfect." Linda said as she pointed towards the cave, "We can probably just use that thing for shelter." Rom frowned as she shook her head.

"It's really dark," Rom replied, "And Mina told us to not go into dark caves without Blanc."

"Yeah, there could be, like, a bear or something in there!" Ram stated.

"Or fly whale." Bit added.

"Big, nasty, angry fly whale." Torrent shuddered.

"They are kinda right about that, chu." Warechu sighed, "And honestly, I'd rather NOT get eaten by a wild fenrir or whatever." Linda shoved her foot lightly against Warechu, pushing him towards the cave.

"That's why you're gonna go explore it." Linda said with a smug grin.

"No way, chu!" Warechu protested. Linda chuckled as she patted Warechu on his fuzzy little head.

"I'm joking, genius." Linda laughed as she stepped ahead of the others, "I'll check it out." Linda stumbled over to the cave, still clenching her ribs. Bit and Torrent followed quickly behind, tugging at Linda's right arm as they looked up at her.

"You hurt," Bit said sadly and quietly.

"We look. Not you." Torrent muttered as she stepped towards the cave.

"But...you two are just kids," Linda protested, "You shouldn't be crawling around in dangerous places."

"Hurt people shouldn't be crawling around in dangerous places either," Rom said, tugging on Linda's sleeve, "You could get extra-hurt if you do that." Linda gazed down at the sad girl, who continued to tug at her sleeve and look into Linda's eyes as if they were portals leading to an infinite abyss of tears.

"Oh alright," Linda gulped, "Warechu, you go."

"Ugh...fine." Warechu groaned, "If it will make those kids shut up...chu..." Warechu scuttled across the forest grass over to the cave. He crawled up the tunnel leading into the cave, scratching the rocks as he clawed his way into the gaping rock's maw. Everything was quiet, save for the crickets that began to chirp, as the others slowly drew near the rocks.

"Well...so far, so good," Linda muttered as she reached into the crevice, "Hey Warechu! Are you okay in there?"

"Yeah yeah, it's good," Warechu said, his voice echoing out of the cave like a haunting spirit.

"All of you go ahead," Linda said, gesturing to the cave, "I need a moment." The children climbed one by one into the cave. Rom glanced at Linda one more time.

"Can you climb in, Miss Underling?" Rom asked quietly.

"Yeah...go on in," Linda sighed, "I'll let you know if I need help."

"Umm...okay." Rom said slowly as she crawled into the cave. Linda waited for several seconds, looking around at the gently bristling grasses and leaves. She slowly paced away from the cave, behind a tree, where she was out of sight and earshot. She slumped to the ground with a heavy sigh as she shook her head. She closed her eyes as she muttered nonsensical words to herself, feeling the cold dusk breeze tingle her skin not covered by her jacket as it brisked across the area like a flowing river.

A soft buzzing came from Linda's pocket...it was her phone. It was an oddly rectangular device, resembling a graphing calculator more than an actual phone. The scratches and chips all over it were evidence of many violent misadventures...or perhaps the fact that this was salvaged from the graveyard. Linda reached for the phone and pressed the talk button, bringing the device to her faced.

"Who is this?" Linda asked.

"I've been waiting all day, underling," The familiar, spine-chilling, inhuman voice of the machine creature only known as CFW Trick said, agitated and impatient from the other end, "Where the FUCK are those two adorable children?"

"Oh...that..." Linda replied sheepishly, "Look, we ran into a bite of trouble. We're a ways north of Lastation right now-"

"North of LASTATION?!" The beast roared immediately, "Have you never seen a map before?! Have you forgotten where LAN Castle is?!"

"N...no, I haven't gotten lost," Linda said, "Like I said, things didn't go according to plan, and now we have to go the long way around-"

"I don't have the patience for that shit, underling!" Trick snapped, "You are going back through Lowee. It's closer and faster that way."

"That's a joke, right?" Linda said, the exasperation in her voice evident, "Lowee is going to be on high fucking alert. They recognize their own CPUs, and if they find us at all, we're fucked."

"You're going to be 'fucked' if you take too much longer to get the kids over here, underling," Trick growled, "The gutter trash my new...'program' has been bringing in is only good for a night or two. I need true divine cuties to be satisfied."

"Look. I've already got the kids to trust me," Linda said, "All I need is time to go to Lastation's train station, and a train ride through Planeptune, and we'll be there without incident. It's safer."

"It better be," Trick grumbled, "Or it's YOUR ass on the chopping block." A big BEEP came from the phone as Trick hung up. Linda winced as she slid the phone back into her pocket. She let out a long sigh as she closed her eyes.

"Yo, Linda, you sure you're okay, chu?" Warechu asked, his voice quiet and distant, but very clearly audible. Linda jumped as she shot her eyes open, and turned around.

"Oh geez! Warechu." Linda gasped, "Why did you come back out here?"

"I'm concerned about you, chu," Warechu said, "You seem upset about somethin'." Linda rolled her eyes as she chuckled a bit.

"Why?" Linda asked, "I can take care of myself."

"Because..." Warechu said softly, "You...called me your friend back at the mutant camp, chu. I guess we have been for a while...but hearing it every now and then..."

"Why are you being so sappy, Warechu?" Linda asked.

"Because..." Warechu began as he moved towards Linda, his eyes wet and cutesy like he was a puppy begging for food, "Because even the most lowly of villains believes in true friendship. " Linda grinned as she began to walk back to the cave.

"I'm glad you've been there with me, too." Linda said quietly.

"We'd better get back to the cave before the kids eat all the dried fruit I gave them for dinner, chu." Warechu said as he trailed in front of Linda.

"Oh, they can have it." Linda replied, "They are growing girls...I think."

"Two of them are, anyway, chu." Warechu muttered.

...

Blanc sat at the edge of the cave she had rapidly carved into the side of the cliff, looking down into the ravine at the still burning wrecked vehicles and bodies that littered the rocks. She tightened her fists as she growled.

"This is bullshit." Blanc spat, "We should be chasing after the kidnapper...not power napping in a cliff."

"Oh please, Blanc," Neptune cooed as she placed her gentle little hands on Blanc's tense shoulders, "It's getting super late, and we've all been flying around in HDD form all day. We need rest."

"My sister is right, Blanc," Nepgear chimed in, "The bad guy is going to get away if we're all tired and stuff."

"I don't know if you've been paying attention," Blanc grunted, "But something has been rushing off after my sisters ahead of us, and has been slaughtering everything in its wake. Even if the kidnapper moves slow, the murder robot will probably reach them first, and..."

"They're stronger than you think," Nepgear said, "I've seen them fend off invincible robots before."

"Then why can't they fend off a simple kidnapper?" Blanc countered.

"M...maybe this isn't some 'simple kidnapper,'" Nepgear retorted nervously, "In which case, that death robot is in even more trouble if he tries to cross with them."

"Yeah...THAT'S supposed to make me feel better," Blanc grumbled as she rolled her eyes.

"Aw C'mon, Blanc," Neptune said as she patted Blanc on her fussy head, "Nep Jr. is just trying her hardest to help you relax and get some shuteye."

"Maybe I don't want to relax," Blanc said, "Maybe I want to fucking save my sisters instead." Neptune gently poked the area below Blanc's left eye, which was somewhat dark and baggy.

"Do you really think you're going to save those adorable sisters of yours when you are longing for the comfy release of a gentle nap?" Neptune asked, "Cause trust me; I've tried to do things while tired as a sloth, and I can barely stamp papers with my eyes open, much less fight anything while tired."

"You barely do jack shit anyway." Blanc pointed out.

"Well, yeah," Neptune admitted, "But how tragic would it be if you got to the kidnapper, and then got shanked to death because you were too tired to dodge properly? You'd lose your sisters, and your life!" Blanc emitted a long sigh.

"If sleeping will get you off of my fucking ass, then I'll sleep." Blanc grumbled, "But I'm getting up early, and I expect both of you to as well."

"Sure thing." The Planeptune sisters both responded at once. Blanc huffed as she dropped to the ground, and rested her head on her hands.

"Good night you two." Blanc muttered, "Don't keep me up all night."

"'Night, Blanc." The sisters replied cheerfully. A few minutes of silence passed, the only noise being the gently whistling wind blowing against the cave entrance as the painted orange and pink dusk gave way to a bright and starry night. Nepgear sat at the edge of the cave, sighing to herself as she reached for something in her pocket. She caressed the unseen object like a gene lamp.

"Heya Nep Jr," Neptune cooed, "What's that you've got?"

"Oh, this?" Nepgear asked, holding out a small box, which could easily fit inside her shirt's pockets. The box was open, and it had a ring inside of it. The ring was made of some kind of sparkling silver, as if it were snow in the midsummer's gleam on top of a tall mountain. it was adorned with two square-shaped cleanly cut gems; one of which was a light purple amethyst, and the other was a very dark grey, almost black gem of some sort. Neptune tilted her head at this piece of jewelry.

"It's something I got at the festival," Nepgear stated, "I...I was planning to give it to Uni after Blanc gave her speech...but..."

"Umm...Nep Jr?" Neptune said, "This looks an awful lot like an engagement ring."Nepgear blushed as she turned away.

"Well...it is." Nepgear admitted sheepishly as she averted her sister's gaze, "The Lowee winter festival is such a wonderful, happy time of year...I figured it would be the best time to...uhh..."

"Ask her to marry you?" Neptune inquired as she raised an eyebrow.

"W-well, yes," Nepgear said as her face turned more reddish, "I...I've known Uni for years now...and I love her."

"Does she even love you back?" Neptune asked suspiciously.

"Yes," Nepgear replied quickly, almost defensively, "I know she has trouble expressing it in words...but I know she loves me...from the way she looks at me when she thinks I'm not looking at her, from the way she talks to me when we go out...From the way she holds my hand..."

"Nep Jr...I don't think that's a good idea." Neptune said quietly. Nepgear stared wide eyed at Neptune as if she had just seen Uni die.

"N..Neptune," Nepgear said, "I...I don't understand."

"Nep Jr...She can't love you any more than your big sister can," Neptune replied sadly, "If you marry her...You won't be able to spend any time with me."

"That's not true, Neptune!" Nepgear shot back defensively, "I...I could still live in Planeptune."

"Where would Uni live?" Neptune asked.

"W...well...we could visit," Nepgear stuttered, "Please, Neptune...it will all work out, I promise."

"You know what every relationship that 'works' needs, Nep Jr?" Neptune said, her tone suddenly quiet and dark, "Honesty." Nepgear blinked awkwardly.

"Wh...what do you mean, Neptune?" Nepgear asked with shaky breath.

"I mean you need to tell Uni all the things you probably didn't tell her," Neptune continued, "Like...how you tend to snore...your weird robot fetish..."

"I don't understand." Nepgear whispered, her voice quivering, "I'm always honest with Uni."

"Oh?" Neptune asked, "Then you've already told her about how, after you saved me, you missed me soooooo much, and were sooooooo stressed that you went drinking with me..."

"Neptune, no." Nepgear gasped.

"...and went back to the basillicom with me," Neptune continued, "And got all nude with me in the hot and steamy baths..."

"Neptune, please stop!" Nepgear cried.

"And then," Neptune continued, "You made love to me, and nine months later..."

"Neptune! Stop!" Nepgear shrieked as she fell to the floor, crying. Neptune frowned as she looked at her sister, crumpled on the floor and weeping as if she had been thrown to the floor by some sort of beast...utterly broken and unable to compose herself. Neptune swallowed a gulp of air, and knelt down to Nepgear.

"Nep Jr, I'm sorry," Neptune whispered in a far more calm tone, "I...I'm still upset about Plutie...that's what that was about." Nepgear slowly lifted her head to meet Neptune's gaze.

"I'm sorry..." Nepgear said through tears, "But you know what Histy said...neither of us have the time or responsibility to be parents."

"Well...what if Histy was wrong?" Neptune asked, choking a tear out herself, "What if we could have been one big, happy family? What if I didn't have to give her to that...orphanage...?"

Blanc blinked, wide eyed with her head turned away from the sisters as they continued to sob.

"I had no idea..." Blanc whispered too quietly for anybody to hear...

...


End file.
